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COFWIGIIT DEPOSm 





RELIABLE POULTRY JOURNAL PUB. CO, 

aUINCY, ILL,. 



P O U LTRY 
Houses and Fixtures 



SEVENTH EDITION 



The Plans and Details for Con^ruding Closed Front, Scratching Shed* 

Curtain Front, Fresh Air and Portable Poultry Houses 

and Appliances for House and Yard 



price: fifty cents 



PUBLISHED JOINTLY BY 

American Poultry Publishing Company, Buffalo, New York 

AND 

Reliable Poultry Journal Publishing Company, Quincy, Illinois 

Copyright 1910 

BY 

Reliable Poultry Journal Publishing Company 






<< 




HOUSES AND FIXTURES FOR STANDARD-BRED FOWLS 






^ 

i 



preliminary Cons^iberation 











determining tfte Cppe of J|ousie 

The Governing Influences of Location, Soil and Climate The Merits of Continuous and Colony Houses 



POULTRY houses and fixtures are among the first con- 
siderations of a person about to begin breeding 
poultry. If the buildings are commenced in a hap- 
hazard kind of a way disappointments and loss of 
time are bound to ensue. It will, therefore, be the endeavor 
in this book to assist the breeder in avoiding the difficulties 
which arise with a first attempt at poultry house building, in 
addition to which we will place before the already experienced 
poultryman plans which his fellow-breeders adopt. We pre- 
sent illustrations and descriptions of houses for the city and 
village fancier and for the professional breeder who intends 
establishing a large plant. The farmer, also, will find plans 
suited to his requirements. 

There are important considerations which may not be 
mentioned in the detailed building instructions that follow, 
but which must not be overlooked, so it will be well to draw 
the attention of the reader to these at once. 

The Location of the House 

Location and surrounding of the poultry houses should 
be the first thought. A house suitable for one locality may 
be unsuited to another; a house adapted to a fifty-foot lot 
may not be the thing for a ten acre establishment. Hills 
and hollows, flat lands and swamps, sandy locations and 
clay soils, all more or less affect the style and position of a 
well-planned poultry house. Climate also has much to do 
with it. The southern fancier has an advantage in cost of 
buildings over his northern brother. He has also obstacles 
to contend with which are not met in cold climates. While 
he is worried about providing sufficient fresh air and pro- 
tection from the hot sun, and while he is waging continual 
warfare against lice, his friend in the north is filling up all 
the openings, double lining his walls and doing his utmost to 
prevent the frost from penetrating his hen house. 

Everybody agrees that an orchard is an ideal place 
for poultry houses, but everybody is not blessed with an 
orchard. The south side of a dense plantation or the south- 
ern slope of a hill is a favorite position in the north; the 
cold winter winds are thus broken and the snow disappears 
quickly upon warm days, giving the fowls an opportunity 
to wander forth in search of tidbits and vigor. " High and 
dry " applies particularly to fowls' houses. It is a necessity. 
To provide board flooring in a house that is built over a low 
wet spot is not sufticient. No house should have stagnant 



water underneath, even though its effect is not visible on 
the inside floor. It is unhealthy. If there is no other choice 
of location, such spots must be filled in with earth and 
raised above the surrounding ground, so that water will 
drain away from the house. A sandy soil is much better 
than clay. The latter is nearly always either damp and 
sloppy, or baked so hard that the fowls can barely raise a 
dust ; the droppings from the fowls remain on the surface 
and need frequent plowing under. Sand absorbs the drop- 
pings, and so saves much labor, though of course it also 
needs turning over occasionally. 

Continuous and Colony Houses 

Shall I build a continuous, or separated houses, is a 
question the answer to which depends upon circumstances. 
The continuous house is a labor-saver, and therefore a 
favorite with large establishments, where the main object 
is egg production or market poultry, where a few minutes' 
additional labor in each pen means hours lost every day. 
Many prominent breeders of fancy poultry adopt this plan 
for like reasons. 

The colony plan is adopted by those who are of the 
opinion that fowls do not thrive when housed together in 
large numbers. Their preference is the house which accom- 
modates not more than fifty fowls. These houses are dotted 
over the farm at such intervals as convenience directs, some 
having yards adjoining, while others are separated entirely. 

The scratching shed plan is a " go-between " the contin- 
uous house and the colony plan. It may be in a way a con- 
tinuous house, and the attendant may be under cover at all 
times while passing from house to house; again they may be 
built in pairs. They are simply open sheds alternated 
with closed houses. This plan is becoming quite popular, 
especially with breeders of exhibition fowls, who desire 
vigor and fertile eggs rather than enforced egg-production 
and infertility. At first glance the expenditure appears to 
be increased on account of the extra sheds, but it must be 
remembered that the closed portions of the buildings are 
in great part used only for a roosting and laying house, 
and are not November-to-March habitations, such as com- 
bine dining room and sleeping apartments. Six square feet 
of floor space per fowl would be little enough in such a 
house, but where the fowls spend most of the day in an- 
other apartment — the scratching shed — then the closed 



POULTRY HOUSES AND FIXTURES 



I'oom need only be slig'htly larger than they require for 
roosting' and nesting purposes; that is to say, it must be 
three square feet per hen instead of six square feet. 

It will be understood that increased flosr space is 
■desirable, but generally poultrymen wish to economize 
■and we are keeping that in ^iew. It is a great mistake 
"to economize unduly in the construction of houses. Es- 
timates should be made as to the cost of construction 
and material, then the number of fowls to be kept 
should be governed by the amount to be expended in 
the buildings. 

Fresh-Air Houses 

'■God lent His creatures light and air and waters open to the skies; 
Man locks him in a stifling lair and wonders why his brother dies." 

— Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes. 

Dr. Holmes' poem from which the above lines are 
•quoted was written many years ago. That distinguished 
physician and brilliant author well knew and taught his 
students the priceless value of pure fresh open air. 

In spite of the fact thal^ there were many 
practical and striking examples of successful poul- 
try keeping in open or semi-open houses, poultrymen 
generally have been afraid of cold air methods and 
^'fresh-air houses." The great raajofity have continued 
to lock their poultry "in a stifling lair" and have won- 
dered why their fowls sickened and died. With the foul 
air, dampness and excess of filthy dust to be found in 
most closed poultry buildings it is not at all strange 
that fowls are commonly afflicted with a multitude of 
diseases, chief among them being roupy catarrhal colds 
and fungoid diseases of the respiratory organs. 

It is only within the past few years that anything 
has been done to push the general adoption of frest-air 
methods of poultry housing with a view to improving the 
health and productivity of our flocks. Possibly Mr. A. F. 
Hunter and others started the movement in the right 
■direction by booming the "scratching-shed" house. Mr. 
Haywood, of New Hampshire, has for a number of years 
been using a tent shaped low cost house -with a partly 
■open front. Editor J. H. Robinson about 1902 published 
plans of a cheap convertible "cold" poultry house, having 
large doors in south front that made an open-front shed 
of the building when thrown wide open. Dr. Bricault and 
Dr. Nottage each published plans of convertible houses, 
the last named gentleman having a building of the con- 
tinuous "semi-monitor top" type. All of these houses 
p^o^■ided for an abundance of fresh open air by day 
tut took no account of the night supply, when the house 
was tightly closed in cold weather. They marked a de- 
cided step forwai'd, a step in the right direction toward 
fresh air, better ventilated houses and less damp, stag- 
nant air and dust. Fresh air, however, is needed quite 
us much, if not more, at night, as it is during the day. 

It remained for Mr. Joseph Tolman to take the 
really radical step in favor of fresh-air housing of poul- 
try. In in04, on advice of the writer that his fowls 
needed more fresh air, Mr. Tolman built his first fresh- 
air house, a deep, low building with an entirely open 
front. This house was a success from the start. The 
■writer built two of them later and still likes them im- 
mensely after using them for four winters. It speaks 
well of this open-front building that when the first plans 
were published it received a warm welcome from pro- 
gressive poultrymen, in spite of the fact that, with the 
•exception of E. P. J., the leading poultry journals were 
most of them either opposed or indifferent to this rad- 



ical departure from the conventional poultry house. 
Gradually this open-front building has won its way to 
public favor, chiefly on its practical merits, and today it 
is generally conceded by the leading authorities that the 
"open-front poultry house has come to stay" and that 
it means "better poultry and more of it." 

Regarding the ConArutflion 

Elaborate poultry houses carry -with them no ad- 
vantage aside from appearances; in fact, there are dis- 
advantages connected with them which do not exist in 
plainly constructed buildings. There should be as few 
nooks and ornaments as possible. Start in with the 
knowledge that every little nook, corner and crack -mil 
be a ready made breeding spot for lice, and shun them. 
Most poultry houses are built of rough boards (or barn 
siding as they are sometimes called) battened on the 
outside and lined with building or tar paper on the in- 
side. In cold climates a second wall or boarding is built 
upon the inside face of the uprights, forming a space of 
four inches between walls. This space is sometimes 
filled with sawdust, ashes, earth, shavings or other ma- 
terial, but often remains unfilled. Some people prefer 
the natural earth for a floor, while others like boards. 
The main object should be to have a dry floor. 

Windows should be of medium size. Large windows 
attract the heat of the sun during the day and release 
it after sundown, thereby causing extremes of tempera- 
ture; they afford heat when the fowls, by exercise, can 
do without it, and withdraw it when they are at rest 
and need it. 

Ventilation should be by open doors or vyindows- 
Attempts at ventilation by a system of pipes and traps 
are nearly always futile, frequently cause drafts and 
disease, and at the same time fail to carry off the foul 
air. 

Xests, droppings boards and roosts should be so 
made that they can be easily removed and thoroughly 
cleaned, leaving no corners that are difficult to get at 
with the whitewash brush. The droppings boards are a 
necessity. They prevent an accumulation of manure on 
the floor, where it would be scratched around among the 
grain, and they render cleanliness less difficult of accom- 
plishment than it would be if there were none. 

There will be found in the following pages illustra- 
tions of the various styles of houses we have mentioned, 
with a full description of each. We have omitted esti- 
mates, because the prices of material vary greatly in 
different localities, anJ the cost therefore vpill differ ac- 
cordingly; besides in many cases the ovroer of the house 
will be his own carpenter, thus saving the labor bill. 

The best styles of houses that have come to the at- 
tention of the editor of the Reliable Poultry Journal, 
both at his desk and during his extensive travels among 
the successful poultrymen of the country, are repre- 
sented, and we trust the reader will be able to find 
therein a style of house suited to his needs. Numerous 
handy fixtures for the poultry house and yard are illus- 
trated and described, and many labor-saving devices are 
also given. 

The smaller houses of necessity lack many conven- 
iences which will be found in the larger ones, but there 
are many which may be adapted to all styles of houses, 
and the reader is recommended to study all the plans 
before commencing operations. He has our best ■wishes 
for his success. 



puilbing a ^oultrp Jlousie 



A Presentation of the Fads that Should be Considered by the Poultryman before the Con^rudion of the 

House is Commenced— How to Arrive at an Economical Labor-Saving 

Plan of a House and Yards 

James E.- Rice 



P 



OULTRY keeping is an exacting business. The four 
corner stones upon which success rests are: 

(1) Suitable buildings properly located. 

(2) The right foods skillfully fed. 

(3) Good fowls carefully bred. 

(4) Facility and ability to hatch and rear chickens. 

The Location of the House 



The location should be dry. If the ground is not dry 
naturally, it should be made so by drainage. Damp ground 
means cold ground, because rapid evaporation cools the soil. 
It also means unhealthful soil because the air and sunshine 
cannot penetrate to purify it. 

Air drainage is as important as soil drainage. Cold air 
settles in low places. A low place though more sheltered 
from the wind may be many degrees colder than a higher 
spot a few rods distant. Therefore avoid locating poultry 
houses where cold stratas of air can settle. Secure warmth 
by building in the lee of a windbreak, or in front of farm 
buildings, or a hill. Buildings that face the south will get 
the largest amount of exposure to the sun's rays. Other 
things being equal they will be warmer and dryer and more 
cheerful. An eastern exposure is usually preferable to a 
western exposure, barring prevailing winds from the east, 
because, like flowers, hens prefer morning to afternoon sun. 

The form and location of poultry houses have much to 
do with their convenience. Time is money. Therefore a 
poultry plant should be built with a view to saving steps. 
With this point in mind a man would have to walk 1320 feet 
to go the rounds of the 16 houses shown in 111. 2. Most 
men feed their fowls three times, water once, gather the 

„- , eggs once and 

V 300 ^ 



clean house once 
daily, making 6 
trips a day which 
would require the 
attendant to walk 
7920 feet a day or 
547 miles a year. 
Walking 4 miles 
an hour, it would 
take 136 hours , 
and at 12^ cents 
an hour would cost 
$17. If the six- 
teen houses are 
brought together 
into one continu- 
ous house, 111. 3. 
•the attendant would make the round by walking 540 feet. 
Six trips a day would make 3240 feet a day or 223 miles 
a year, taking 55 hours and costing $6.97 per year, a 
saving of 324 xoiles, of 81 hours and of $10 a year. A 



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horse and cart to carry the food and water, eggs, litter, 
cleanings, etc., in case of the colony plan, and a trolley 
through the continuous house, could be made to save 2 or 3 
trips a day — reducing the amount of travel proportionately. 

The Type Influences the Co^ of Con^ucftion 



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Houses built 
on the colony or 
separate plan, cost 
more to build thaac 
a continuous house 
of the same capac- 
ity. Ills. 3. 

One end of each 
house is saved by 
bringing them to- 
gether. Supp o s - 
ing the buildings 
to be 15 feet wide 
and 6 feet high on 
the sides, the lum- 
ber saved would 
amount to 127 feet 
6 inches f or o ne ^ 

house equal to 2040 

sq. ft. for 16 houses, and if double boarded would require 4080 
feet besides other materials and cost of building. The colo- 
ny houses are much cooler because more exposed. 

Fencing the Yards 

To fence sepa- 
rate yards for the 
pens 111. 2. would 
require 27X rods 
of fence which 
would cost about 
$20. Every time a 
division fence i s 
taken out each 
flock has twice as 
much liberty as it 
had before. When 
all the division 
fences are remov- 
ed each flock en- 
joys sixteen times 
as much liberty as 
4 it had before. The 

labor of cultivat- 
ing and seeding sixteen yards is greater than it would be if 
all were in one field. Again one would have to open and 
shut about 100 gates a day in caring for the stock in build- 
ings arranged as in 111. 2. 



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POULTRY HOUSES AND FIXTURES 



Features of Large and Small Yards 

As a rule make 
them long and 
narrow. Double 
yards are desirable 
(111. 5). Ttiey 
allow one to rotate 
green crops. This 
practice converts 
the filth which 
would become a 
source of danger 
into a val u a b 1 e 
food crop. Where 
several breeds are 
kept or many small 
breeding pens are 
desired the follow- 
ing plans are sug- 
ges ted to save 
steps: 

The shape of the fields, and slope of land and location 
of the other farm buildings will have much to do with the 
7J"^ : shape of the yards 





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and mode of ac- 
cess to the build- 
ings. Two rods wide and 
eight rods long is a good size 
for forty or fifty hens although 
^ more room would be better. This 
permits a row of fruit trees in the 
center for shade, which is a necessity. 
If the nearest point of access should 
be from the north (111. 5) it would 
be better to have the houses on the 
west at B instead of at A. 



Small Flocks Lay BeSl 

Ordinarilly we expect to get more eggs from a small 
flock than from a large one. But every time we double a 
flock we divide the labor. Forty to fifty seems to be about 
as large as it is safe and economical to keep together. If 
more are together the weaker are crowded and the individual 
is lost sight of. 

Conftru<ftion of Houses— The Working Unit 

A safe working rule is to allow about 5 to 6 sq. ft. floor 
space, and 8 to 10 sq. ft. air space for every fowl. The 
lighter breeds, because more active and restless, require 
about as much room as larger breeds. 

Foundation walls should be built deep enough to prevent 
heaving by the frost, and high enough to prevent surface 
water from entering. Sometimes grout walls may be made 
with gravel or small stones where large stones are scarce; or 
the building may be set upon posts in the absence of foun- 
dation materials. 

Square Houses Economize Lumber 

The nearer square a house is— other things being equal — 
the less lumber it will require. (111. 6.) It is 72 feet 
further around house A than it is around house E, having 
the same number sq. ft. floor space. If the sides of the 
house are 6 feet high then one thickness of boards would 
take 6x72 =•432 ft. If the house is double boarded it would 
be twice as great, i. e., 864 feet, besides the extra material 



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required for 72 feet of framework, building paper, nails, 
labor, foundation, etc. The long narrow house is colder be- 
cause it has 432 sq. ft. more of exposed surface. 

Coft and Value Affetfled by Form of Roof 

The shape of the roof affects the value of a poultry house. 
It takes the same amount of material to build a gable roof — 
a one pitch roof or 
a combination 

roof, if the pitch '" "-' — — '* * 

of the roof and the . — . _ . -, 

ground plan are 
similar. (III. 7). 
The shape of the 
roof influences the 

cost of the sides ■' '' 

of the house. If „ . 

we assume that the ^ 

window is 6 feet 
high in a building 

15 feet wide, it would be necessary with a gable roof to have 
both sides of the house the same height, which makes more 
interior air space than is necessary and requires the rear 
wall 1 foot 6 inches higher, than would be needed with a one 

pitch or combina- 
tion roof. A one 
slope roof will cost 
the extra lumber 
to build 3 feet 
higher in front 
than is required 
by the combina- 
tion house. If an 
alleyway should be 
desired along the 
rear side of the 
house, or if a large garret space is desired, the gable roof 
style of house will be the most economical to build. 

In order to build the three styles of houses, each taking 
the same amount of material and having the same area of 
roof and floor space, they would be as seen in Ills. 8, 9, 10, 
which would make 
the one pitch roof 
too low in the rear 
for convenience. 
The steeper the 
pitch, the greater 
the comparative 
expense of build- 
ing a shed roof 
house, as compar- 
ed with the gable ^ 
o r combination 

roof house. The steeper the roof the greater the cost for 
roofing and the longer it will last. Most roofs can be one- 
fourth pitch . Shingle roofs should generally be one-third pitch . 

Each Form of Roof Has Its Advantage and Disadvantage 

The single span roof is the easiest to build. It gives the 
highest vertical front exposed to the sun's rays which are re- 
flected back, drying the ground and making a warm shelter. 
It throws all the rain water to the rear, lessening the length 
of eaves-trough one-half and keeping the front of the house 
dry where no eaves-troughs are used. It allows the win- 
dows to be placed high up. A tarred paper roof will last 




S 



BUILDING A POULTRY HOUSE 



^I 



.1 



10 



many years longer if the slope is toward the north It 
cooler in summer 
if not exposed to 
the vertical rays 
of the sun. The 
gable roof provides 
for a large garret 
space which can 
be stuffed with 
straw, making the 
house warmer and 
drier. The com- 
bination house 

shares in the advantages and disadvaiitages of each of the 
others. 

Alleyways are Expensive and do not Always 
Economize Labor 

They occupy one-fourth to one-fifth the entire space of 
the house, which would acconiniddate one-fourth to one-fifth 
more hens or would give the regular number of hens one- 
fourth to one-fifth more room. Twenty to twenty-five per 
cent of the total area of a building is too much to pay for a 
free passage-way. 

Every time one enters the pen from the alleyway he 
opens and shuts twice as many doors, as he would in a sim- 
ilar house without an alleyway, if one passes from pen to 
- pen and returns outside (except in the case of a long sec- 
tion scratcliing-slied house). (111. 11.) If alleyways are 
boarded up tight one cannot see the fowls without open- 
ing the doors. If they are nottightthey encourage draughts. 

The nesting and roosting conveniences can be so arranged 
that most of the work may be done from the alleyway, which 
might be a saving of labor. But in so doing one would not 
be among his fowls, which would be a decid- 
ed disadvantage. 

Long houses should always be divided -^ 

by tight partitibns either cloth or board, 
between every two pens at least to avoid 
draughts. Otherwise cold and dangerous air 
currents will be formed whenever windows, 
doors or ventilators are open. 

Sunlight is a Necessity 

It carries good cheer and tends to arrest, 
or prevent disease. Too much glass makes 
a house too cold at night and too warm 
during the daytime, because glass gives off 
heat at night as readily as it collects it in the 
daytime. Much glass makes construction expensive. Allow 
1 sq. ft. glass surface to about 16 sq. ft. floor space 
if windows are properly placed. The windows should 
be high and placed up and down rather than horizon- 
tally and low. (111. 12.) In the former the sunlight 
passes over the entire floor during the day from west 
to east, drying and purifying practically the whole 
interior. The time when sunshine is most needed is when 
the sun is lowest, ). i\ from Sept. 21st to Mar. 21st. 
The arrows in 111. 12 represent the extreme points which 
the sunshine reaches during this period with the top of a 4 
foot window placed 4 feet, (i feet and 7 feet high, respect- 
ively. With the highest point of the window at 4 feet, the 
direct sun's rays would never reach further back than 9 feet; 
at 6 feet it would shine 13 feet 6 inches back and at 7 feet it 
would strike the rear side of the house 1 foot above the floor. 
Window sash with small glass seriously obstruct the light. 



Very large lights break too easily and are more expensive; 
8 by 10 is a good sized glass to be used in a 12 light sash, 
making it about 3 feet 9 inches high, by 2 feet 5 inches wide. 
Use two of these for a house about 15 feet square. Single 
sash are usually less expensive than double sash of the same 
size, and the cost for window frame is less. Single sash 
may swing from the side or top, or be madato slide to one 
side. They can be opened and closed quickly and complete- 
ly, and are against the wall where least apt to be broken. 
With double sash this is more difficult. Whitewashing the 
inside of a house makes it as much lighter as an extra 
window. 

Extreme Temperature May Be Modified by 
Careful Ventilation 

It is as important that houses be kept cool in summer as it 
is that they be kept warm in winter. Therefore remove win- 
dows in hot weather. Curtains over windows, though add- 
ing to trouble and expense, can be used to advantage during' 
night time in the coldest weather, and during the daytime in 
the hottest season. Hens must be kept comfortably warm. 
This is particularly true at night when the body is less active. 
The great difference bet'veen summer, when hens naturally 
lay most eggs, and winter when they always lay the least 
eggs, is a difference in temperature and sunshine. Therefore 
we must build our poultry houses so that we can as far as 
possible, consistent with cost, overcome this condition. 

A Low House is Warmed Easier Than a High One 

Solid walls radiate heat rapidly. The best way to make 
a poultry house warm is to build it as low as possible with- 
out danger of bumping heads. There will then be ample air 
space for as many fowls as the floor space will accommodate. 



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Too much air space makes a house cold. It cannot be warm- 
ed up by the heat given off by the fowls. 

With the house as seen in (111.13) 15 by 15 by 6 ft., 
there would be 1912 cu. ft. of air space, which with 40 hens 
weighing five lbs. each, would allowO/j-cu. ft. to each 
pound live weight. This is eight times greater than is rec- 
ommended for each pound live weight for other animals. 
The gable roof alone has -562 cu. ft. air space or 2 -^-^ cu. ft. 
air space to each pound live weight. 

TTie Walls Should Furnish Insulation 

Matched lumber is cheaper in the end than unmatched 
with battened sides. Planed lumber will pay for extra cost 
in the saving of paint and brushes. For durability, painting 
buildings may not pay, but for appearance's sake it is de- 
sirable. Line with tough building paper, always making the 



POULTRY HOUSES AND FIXTURES 




12 



laps tight. Make the walls double with the space stuffed 
with straw rather than have a so-called dead air space, or 
the same material built solid together (111. 13). With 
the solid wall, heat passes through rapidly. The same is 
true of a dead air space where the air becomes as cold as the 
outside boarding and in turn, by direct contact cools off the 
inside boarding. This occurs less quickly when the space is 
stuffed with non-conducting material. Stuffed walls will not 
be necessary over the entire house except in the very coldest 
sections; or the coldest sides in the milder section, and not 
at all further south. It costs about the same to build a 
double battened wall with unmatched boards solid together 
with paper between, as it does to make two single walls of 



Sun's rays from soil is hard to clean, and only partially keeps 

^r"."of .'° out dampness. Board floors are short-lived if 

Sept. 21st . . 

the air is not allowed to circulate under the 

house. If the foundation walls are not tight 

Sun's rays the floors are cold. In any case they harbor 

at Dec. 21st rats. A good cement floor is nearly as cheap 

as a good matched board floor, counting 

lumber, sleepers, nails, time, etc. 

When once properly made it is good for all time. It 

is practically rat proof, easily cleaned and perfectly dry, 

cutting off absolutely all the water from below. If covered 

with a little soil, or straw or both, as all kinds of floors 

should be, it will be a warm floor. Make cement floors by 

filling in with small stones or coarse gravel, if possible, 

for drainage. Then work in and smooth off about 

one to two inches of mortar, made by mixing thoroughly 

while dry, one part good cement to three parts sharp 

sand, then wetting and thoroughly mixing again and again 

and again. Other things that can be done to keep dampness 

out of the air is to use absorbents like dry dust, or land 

plaster, or South Carolina rock on the droppings, which 

should be frequently removed; and by keeping plenty of dry 

straw or buckwheat hulls on the floor for litter or overhead. 




13 



matched boards with one lining of paper and the space 
stuffed with straw. With vertical boarding every board 
serves as studding and saves expense. 

Dampness is Fatal in Poultry Houses — Drain to 
Promote Dryness 

Better by far to have a cold, dry house than a warm 
damp house. The warmer the air the more moisture it will 
hold. When this moist air comes in contact with a cold 
surface, condensation takes place, which is often converted 
into hoar-frost. The remedy therefore, is to remove the 
moisture supply as far as possible, by first cutting off the 
water from below which' comes up from the soil. The water 
table is the same under a poultry house as it is out doors. 
Dirt floors are therefore damp. Stone-filling covered with 



When Air is Warmed it Expands and Rises — Cooling 
Has the Opposite Effedl 

Damp air may be removed by ventilators, which will 
necessarily make the house a little cooler. Warm air rises. 
Therefore the best ventilator is one that has an outtake near 
the floor, with a tight galvanized iron shaft leading up 
through the warm air of the house to the roof and out at the 
peak. The metal being more quickly affected by heat will 
cause currents of air in the shaft to rise more quickly. (III. 
13.) The intake air should be received from the bottom on 
the outside and conducted to the ceiling before being allowed 
to enter the room. This avoids direct draughts and 
causes a circulation necessary to the removal of the moisture. 
The less the difference between the inside and outside tem- 
peratures and the quieter the air, the more difficult it is to 
ventilate. The tighter and warmer buildings are made, the 
easier they are to ventilate. The larger the amount of air 
space the less need there will be for ventilators, provided 
there is a change of air through windows or doors during the 
day. (Consult King on Ventilation.) Stuffing the sides and 
roof of the house with straw to prevent condensation of 
moisture will help to keep the moisture in the air so that it 
can be removed by ventilation. 

Pure air is as necessary to good health and good egg 
production as pure food and pure water. It will require a 
perfect system of ventilation and considerable personal at- 
tention to keep the air in a poultry house as pure as it would 
be out doors. It will therefore often be found advisable to 
adopt the scratching shed plan of house, which allows fowls- 
some discretion in choosing an open air temperature. 

Exercise is Necessary to Insure Health ; Scrertching 
Pens Provide for This 

Hens do not like confinement. The fact that hens can 
go in and out freely from house to shed, seems to be a de- 
ceptive form of liberty which they crave and which is not 
provided in a single close compartment house. The fact of 
having been in the cooler air during the daytime seems to 
make the fowls less affected by the cold of night. In practice 
they are generally found to be more healthy and to lay more 
eggs in a year when proper scratching sheds are provided. 



BUILDING A POULTRY HOUSE 



9 



The relative size of the shed and closed compartment will 
depend upon the location. The further south, the larger the 
scratching shed and the smaller the closed pen, even to the 
extent of having all opeu sheds with cloth fronts and with 
hooded roosts. Such houses are far warmer than is gener- 
ally supposed. The further north one goes, the smaller the 
scratching shed and the larger the closed compartment 
should be, until in very cold sections the open sheds might 
be entirely undesirable. Ordinarily they should be about 
equally divided. 

There are several ways to provide scratching sheds, each 
one possessing some advantage over the other. 111. 11, 
shows three styles. Plan C has the advantage of a scratch- 
ing shed as deep as the house which is thus better sheltered 
from the wind. It has the disadvantage of having more 
doors to open and close in passing through a long house. 
Plan D does away with two doors thus saving time, and is 
no more expfnsive to build, but is more exposed to the wind 
and will make a somewhat dark corner unless a window is 
placed at the back of the scratching shed. Plan E is all 
scratching shed except a small warm roosting room. This 
would be a little cheaper to build but would not be adapted 
to the coldest sections. The fronts of the open sheds should 
generally be provided with heavy cotton cloth doors to keep 
■out sleet and snow during heavy storms. They may be hung 
at the top and raised by a pulley, or sliding doors with cloth 
■windows can be used. Hens are easily frightened. Any- 



thing that causes uncertainty or suggests danger retards egg 
production. Therefore every house should provide a retreat. 
This is done by placing the opening through which the fowls 
pass to and from the shed and the house, in the house, at 
the rear side instead of the front side of the partition. When 
any person or animal approaches the shed the hens 
retreat without alarm to the house, or to the shed, if the 
alarm were to come from the other direction. Placing the 
opening at the rear side also prevents the wind from blow- 
ing into the house. It should be raised 3 inches above the 
floor to prevent the litter from being scratched out. 

A Duft Bath IS Essential to a Fowl's Health and Happiness 

By it they scour off the scurf and scales from the skin 
and rid themselves of vermin. The finer, lighter, dryer the 
dust the better, because the dust must be light and 
fine to get into the breathing pores of the lice to kill them. 
Sandy loam is often better than sand or some kinds of road 
dust which are cold and heavy. Wood ashes and coal ashes 
lighten it up. The best place for the dust bath is in the open 
air of the scratching shed. Here the dust quickly settles and 
the hens that are not dusting are not compelled to breathe 
it. Fowls are apt to stand upon the edge of a dust box and 
befoul it. The interior arrangement of a poultry house 
should not occupy the floor space. The hens need it all. 
The floors are more easily cleaned. 



Practical Feeder and Water Fountain 

This feeder is made of galvanized sheet steel 13 inches in diameter,18 inches high and weighs 5 pounds. The top and bottom are connected with No 
8 galvanized wires, the top of the feed tray being 8 inches from the floor and 3 inches deep, or just right for fowls to eat with ease and still high enoueh 
to prevent scratching litter into the same. The feeder has a bail and cover like a pail and it can be filled outside and simply taken in and set down in 
the pen. The drinking fountain is also made of galvanized sheet steel, the body being 4^ by 8 by 9 inches high and will hold five quarts. The pan is V/ 

incheswider than the main body, giving 
ample room for the fowls to drink. The 
pan is hinged to the baok of the main 
fountain and has an automatic catch 
in front, so that when the fountain is 
filled and the bottom is up you simply 
close the pan over the body and the 
catch snaps in place and cannot be 
emptied until released by operation of 
the catch. The water remains in the 
pan the same as in any other fountain. 




0-^>-^-^r^ 



©etailsi of ConjStruction 

The Pradical Advice of a Qualified Archited Concerning the Foundation, Floor, Walls, Roof and Interior 

Fixtures of Poultry Houses — The Acquisition of Desirable Features 

and the Avoidance of Errors 




R. P. I's 

AN IDEAL poultry house has many requirements, more 
than would be supposed by the uninitiated. It 
should be simple, practical and convenient. It 
should be comfortable for both attendant and fowl. 
It requires to be built substantially and to be adapted to the 
purpose for which it is intended. 

The foundation should be strong and well made. It 
may be built of concrete, rock or brick, or may consist of 
wood only. It should extend below the frost line so that 
cold weather will not injure it by causing it to settle, which 
would certainly be the case if not made sufficiently deep. 

"E.xcavate trench below frost line, 1.5 inches wide. 
Grade bottom to drain to lowest point of surface. Lay two- 
inch tile in bottom; carefully fill in stone around and over 
tile, using large flat stones to cover the tile. Fill trench 
to within 6 inches of surface with 
small stones. Then set up 12-inch 
wide boards edgeways, 12 inches 
apart inside, having top edge per- 
fectly level ; fill in layer of small 
stones 3 inches deep, nicely fitted 
in on outer sides, and then run in 
grout composed of cement 1 part 
and sharp coarse sand 3 parts. 
Then tamp until the mass becomes 
jelly-like under the rammer and un- 
til the water begins to ooze out. Re- 
peat until walls are filled even with 
top of boards, which can be remov- 
ed when grout is set. The wall 
will then project 6 inches above ground. (III. 14.) 

When using concrete, cement must be added to insure a 
thorough job. Without it the mixture would soon lose 
life and crumble away. Portland cement is best for under- 
ground work. It is advisable also to use cement in the mor- 
tar, if foundation is made of stone or brick, as it greatly 
adds to the durability of foundation. 

Another very good and more economical foundation 
suggested was to take glazed drain- 
age tiles of proper size ; place them 
in an upright position, sufficiently 
deep, and fill the inside of tile with 
concrete, making a post that will 
never wear out or decay. 

■ I ; Wood Foundation 

' I ! If wood foundation is used, cedar 

l5_(-ONSTRUCTION OF POSts will be found the most desir- 
CORNER able, as they will outlast any other. 

These should be placed at least 3 
feet into the ground and be not over 8 feet apart to prevent 
building from sagging. Two-inch planks should then be 
nailed to the posts in a horizontal position. These boards 
should be at least 6 inches above grade at the lowest 
corner and should extend below the ground for some 
distance, not less than 12 inches, the deeper the better. The 



1 4- A SERVICEABLE 
FOUNDATION 





16-SECTION THROUGH 
WOODEN FLOOR ' 



Architect 

main purpose of this is to keep out rats, etc. (III. 15.) It 
the boards were covered with small wire netting it would be 
still better, but the wire must be well galvanized. Cheap wire 
would not do. To prevent posts and lumber from rotting, 
especially below. ground line, apply hot tar, avenarius carbo- 
lineum or some creosote preparation. 

Stone and Wooden Floors 

Floors should be raised above the surrounding ground 
to insure dryness, which is essential. A very good floor, 
quite frequently recommended, is 
composed of large stones laid on the 
ground about 6 inches high. These 
were covered witli 3 inches of 
smaller stones, then gravel and 
topped off with 2 inches of coarse 
sand, making a moisture absorbing 
floor about 1 foot above grade. 
Wood floors can also be advanta- 
geously used. They should be raised 
some distance, say about 6 or 8 
inches above the ground, and have 
ventilation underneath. Small holes 
at each corner of the foundation be- 
low the floor line will answer very 
well. (111. 16.) This will allow air 

to enter under the floor and keep it dry. All joists, tim- 
bers and the lower side of the floor might also be treated 
with tar or other preservatives above referred to. One of the 
main purposes of the foundation and floor is to prevent rats 
and other rodents from entering the poultry house. Floors 
constructed as stated above will go a long ways towards 
accomplishing this. 

Con^ucfling the Walls 

Walls must be weather-tight. A great variety of walls 

have been suggested, some of boards only, others of boards 

covered with paper ; some single, others 

double, and so on to the most elaborate 

one, built as follows: (III. 17.) 

On the outside of the studs nail sheath- 
ing; cover with paper or sheathing quilt; 
then with drop siding or weather boards. 
On the inside studs fasten building paper and 
board up with matched flooring or ceiling. 
This gives us two thicknesses of paper, 
three of boards and an air space between, 
and forms an absolutely warm and air tight 
wall, better than many dwellings. 

A good wall can be made of matched 
boards papered outside and in, at low- cost. 
(III. 18.) 

All walls should be constructed to exclude 
vermin, lice, dampness and draft and should be free from 
cracks, crevices or holes. 




17 



v^ 00^///t> 



-AIR-TIGHT 
WALL 



DETAILS OF CONSTRUCTION 



11 



The Roof 

Roofs slioiild also be air tiglit, and of sufficient iiitch 
to shed water freely. They should extend over the building 
to protect it from the weather. If shingles are used on 
the roof, omit paper under them, for the paper absorbs and 
retains moisture, causing them to rot from below in a short 
time. All houses ought to have eaves troughs or gutters 
to carry away the water. (111. 19.) While not essential, 
they are desirable, for they not only protect the foundation, 
but also the walls, and prevent washing away of the 
ground, in districts where severe rain 
storms are prevalent. Lofts filled with 
hay, straw, leaves or other litter under 
the roofs and above the. roosting rooms 
are used quite extensively and are advan- 
tageous, not only adding to warmth 
of house in winter and coolness in sum- 
mer, but absorbing and holding mois- 
ture arising from the fowls and so prevent- 
ing drippings from walls and consequent 
danger to the health of fowls. (111. 20.) 




18-A SERVICE- 
ABLE WALL 



The Doors 

Doors sliould be of sufficient size to 
allow one to enter the building and pens 
with ease; the outside door wide enough, 
if the house contains more than two pens, to admit a wheel- 
barrow. The doors, both exterior and interior, should be 
located so as to save steps and as near the interior fixtures 
as possible. This in a large house is of great importance. 
Where there is no hallway, doors in the partitions should 
swing on double acting hinges, and be of suflicient width for 
cleaning house. 

The Windows 

AVindows should be located properly, preferably on the 
Eouth side of the building, and of sufficient size to furnish 
ample light and ventilation, and low enough to give light 

in the 'ront part of 
the pens. They 
should also be capa- 
ble of being opened 
for ventilation. The 
most convenient way 
is to have them slide 
horizontally. This 
allows them to be 
opened partly or 
wholly, with no dan- 
ger from winds 
slamming them and 
breaking the glass. In 
very long houses, as 
shown by some of 
the plans, the win- 
dows can be placed on 
small wheels and 
fastened to a rope, thereby enabling the attendant to close 
or open all, or a number of the windows, from one point. 
If the windows are to be raised and lowered with a cord, 
from the hallway, they should be countei balanced. They 
will then remain in position and can be more easily opera- 
ted. High windows, as shown in some of the plans for 
lighting roosting rooms, or for other special purposes, are 
not only unnecessary, but detrimental. Sufficient light can 
be had from the south windows for all purposes, and any 




19-ROOF AND EAVE TROUGHS 




20-UTTER-FILLED LOFT 



further openings are 
only sources of heat, 
cold and expense. 
Too much glass is 
nearly as objection- 
able as too little. On 
bright days too much 
sunlight passes 
through it, making 
pens uncomfortably 
warm; at night the 
heat escapes very rap- 
idly. This not only creates a cold house when fowls are 
roosting and should have warmth, but also condenses the 
moisture in the building, causing dampness, which promotes 
decay. Some plans err greatly in having a super-abundance 
of sash. They might be good hot houses, but are poor 
poultry pens. 

The same with skylights. Being in the highest part of 
the building, they allow more warmth to escape in winter, 
and during warm weather produce extreme heat, more so 
than side windows. 

A number of competitors have discarded glass entirely in 
their poultry houses, and recommend muslin covered frames 
in place of sash, with good results. These would be very 
desirable also where glass is used, for then the admission of 
heat and light would be under perfect control. 

"Ventilators are Superfluous" 

Ventilators are entirely superfluous. Thorough ventila- 
tion may be obtained from doors and windows if properly 
located, and any further "unique" or "ideal" systems of ven- 
tilation are generally worse than useless in poultry houses. 

Fixtures Should be Simple and Detachable 

All roosts, droppings boards, nests, feed boxes, water 
fountains, etc., should be removable, for the purpose of 
cleaning and airing. Parasites will not thrive when ex- 
posed to sunlight; 



■.yM. 




21-COVERED FRAMES IN FRONT 
OF ROOSTS 



therefore all fixtures 
should frequently be 
given a sun bath, 
after being thor- 
oughly cleaned. 
When fastening fix- 
tures avoid unneces- 
sary cleats, slides, 
notches, pegs, etc., 
since every one of 
these affords a loaf- 
ing place for vermin. 
Droppings boards 

should be of first class material and as free from joints as 
possible, and spread with earth to facilitate cleaning. In 
cold climates the roosting place may be enclosed by curtains 
on frames hinged to the ceiling to be dropped at night during 
severe weather, or by having curtains hung by rings on wire 
to be drawn over the roost at night. (Ills. 21-22.) All 
fixtures should be raised sufficiently high above, the floor to 
allow fowls to freely run under them, thereby giving an 
unencumbered floor space for exercise. This also makes it 
more convenient for attendant when refilling or cleaning 
these accessories. Feed and grit boxes or troughs, water 
fountains, nests, etc., should be so placed that no unneces- 
sary steps need be taken when replenishing them. The larger 
the house the more important is this, for saving steps mean 



12 



POULTRY HOUSES AND FIXTURES 




^s^^'^-^-iJM 



22-CURTAlN IN FRONT OF ROOST 




saving time, and it is surprising how much may be wasted 
in a year. 

Unnecessary Expense 
When building a poultry house be economical, whether 
a cheap house or an expensive one. Use nothing that is 

not needed to in- 
sure strength, 
comfort and con- 
venience; not onlj' 
on account of cost, 
but on accoiint of 
time occupied in 
cleaning. In look- 
ing over plans a 
great many items 
are found that are 
superfluous and therefore wasteful, .\mong them are the 
following: 

1 — Peed rooms in buildings containing only two or 
three pens. 

2 — Passage-ways or halls that are not fully utilized. 

Passage-ways are not 
only convenient, but 
necessary in long- 
houses , and if the 
house is properly 
constructed most la- 
bor can be done from 
them; if not fully 
utilized they are 
simply so much 
waste space that 
might otherwise be 
occupied by the 
fowls. Separate nest 
rooms are unnecessary; the nests could as well be placed 
on the walls of pens. 

3 — Unnecessarily large timbers in construction of 
buildings, such as the use of 4 by 4s where 2 by 4s would 
suffice, is wasteful. Lumber is frequently cut to waste, 

as for instance by 
having walls C feet 
and 6 inches high, 
when they might as 
well be 7 feet with- 
out additional ex- 
pense and with ad- 
d e d con venience, 
since 14 foot lum- 
ber must be used in 
either case. 

4 — Foundations if 
not below frost line 
are an uncalled for 
expense, for they 
will not properly 
carry the building 
nor prevent the ad- 
mission of rodents. 

5 — E oofs when 
shingled and not 
having sufficient 
pitch cause premature decay and should be avoided. 

6 — Too many doors in buildings are absurd; some 
two-pen houses have five or six. 

7 — Upper rows of windows, skylights and ventilators 
are seldom necessary; generally troublesome. 

8 — Arrangements of interior fixtures so as to be dif- 



23-A CORNER 
OF SILL 




OVERHEAD TROLLY 



ficult of access, create loss of time, consequently waste 
of money. 

This list might be continued indefinitely, but enough 
has been said to indicate where expense can be avoided. 

Excellent Features in Poultry Houses 
Besides those alreadj' mentioned, some of the best 



1 — ^K o c k founda- 
tions laid in ce- 
ment. (111. 14.) 

2 — Floors of pas- 
sageway lower than 
floors of pens in 
continuous houses, 
avoiding the neces- 
sity of stooping and 
facilitating the la- 
bor which is all 
done from the hall- 
way. 

3 — Pas s a g e w a y 
running across a 
two or four pen ~ 
b u i Iding, thereby 
saving space by al- 
lowing attention to 
two pens from one 
point. 

4 — Boards and pa- 
per on both sides of 
studs; space between 
chopped hay. 

5 — Alternate partitions 




25 PASSAGEWAY OUTSIDE HOUSE 



filled with sawdust or finely 



pens removable; 



between 
when removed doubling size of pens. 

6 — Partitions covered with muslin in place of wire; 
this allows air to circulate without allowing draft, and 
should be a good plan in very long houses. 

7 — The front of scratching shed hinged on top, to 
swing in and to be fastened to roof in warm weather, 
the fowls being confined by a wire netting partition. 

8 — Sectional houses, fastened with bolts only, making 
them convenient for removal. 

9 — Sills made of 2 by 4s to 2 by 8s doubled, according- 




26-GATES ADJOINING THE HOUSE 

to the size of the house, for houses built on posts, thus 
giving strength and durability. (111. 23.) 

10 — Cars running on rails in long continuous house 
for ease of carrying mash, food and water, and for clean- 
ing droppings board, gathering eggs, etc. This would be 
cheaper if overhead barn door hangers and track were 
used. (111. 24.) 

11 — Fitting or exhibition coops (which also may be 
used for broody hens or extra cockerels for fattening) 
placed about 3 feet from the floor; they take up no floor 
space and admirably serve the purpose for which they 
are intended. 

12 — A clever feature, though not belonging to the 
house proper, is the biiilding of gates, the width of runs. 



DETAILS OF CONSTRUCTION 



13 



and adjoining the building. These gates when opened not 
only form an enclosure for fowls in the yards, but also 
form an alley the full length of the building, wide enough 
for driving through, when cleaning the floors of pens, or 
removing litter. (111. 26.) 

13— Passage-way along outside of building being 
formed of raised walk for barrow to be used when feed- 
ing, cleaning, etc. (111. 2.5.) 



Many minor improvements, such as wind-breaks, steel 
roofs, newspapers in place of building paper, and others 
too numerous to mention, are spoken of by different 
builders, and the persistent reader, after seeing the plana 
and specifications which are published herein, will cer- 
tainly be able to erect a poultry house to his entire satis- 
faction, one that will be practical, economical and ser- 
viceable. 




':!!liill!l!l!!!!lllillllillll!illlllillill!lllllllllll 



PIANO BOX POULTRY HOUSE 

(For description see page 24) 



Closieb Jfront ll^ou^t^ 



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^ Jfibe=^en Haping ?|ousJe 



A Simple, Pradlical House Economically Built on the Shed-Roof Plan with a View to the Comfort of 

the Fowls, and a Saving of Labor for Their Attendant 



Arthur Davis 



WE WILL try to tell you in plain terms how we built 
the poultry house, the plans of which we send you. 
Neither my father nor myself is a carpenter, but 
we have built a poultry house which I think comes 
very near filling the requirements. 

I will commence with the floor plan, which is 60 by 1.5 
feet inside, with a three-foot passageway on the north. This 
gives a man room to walk and carry a pail or push a wheel- 
barrow and still clear the shelf containing feed pans and 
drinking fountains. The building is supported by posts set 
below the frost line — about 3 feet below the surface. These 
posts are 4 feet long, thus raising the building about 12 inches 
off the ground. In all there are 18 posts, for the nortli and 
6 for the south wall, with (i to support the center. The inside 
posts, with the exception of the end ones, are set directly 
under the partitions and with the help of the partition posts 
support the roof, which will not sag. 

The building is divided into 5 pens 12 feet square,' and 
accommodates 15 fowls to the pen nicely. The door may be 
at either end of the building and the gates to the pens may 
be at either side, the interior fixtures being arranged to suit. 
Two by six scantlings are used for sills, and 16 foot, 2 by 4's 
are used for stringers. The floor will never sag with this 
support. The stringers are 2 feet apart and, a 2 by 4 rests 
edgeways on top of posts — running lengthways of the build- 
ing to support the stringers. On the outside walls stringers 
are spiked to the 2 by 6, even with the top of the latter. On 
the under side of 2 by 4 stringers light strips are nailed, run- 
ning lengthwise of the building and 4 feet apart to support 
any kind of light lumber or strips laid on them between the 
stringers. This is simply to hold up building paper which is 
cut in strips and laid between the stringers and tacked to 
each 2 by 4 with laths. 

The floor proper is then laid. This makes a perfectly 
tight double floor with 1 set of stringers. If paper was put 
on top of stringers and then floor laid, it would sag down in 



time from dampness. By being laid this way it can stretch 
and shrink and will not tear loose. 

I believe in a floor in a poultry house, as it saves grain 
and is always dry, no matter where located, and rats or other 
vermin will not work under a building set off the ground 
as this is. 

The south elevation is •> feet 6 inches inside. Ten feet 
scantling 2 by 4 will cut to make this height, with the addi- 
tion of the 2 by 4 plate spiked to upper ends. The lower 
ends are toe-nailed to the 2 by 6 sill flush with the outside. 
Studs are set .3 feet apart, or so as to accommodate the win- 
dow. Our windows are 3 by -5 feet, with 6 lights. These 
windows are hinged to swing inward, with wire screen frames 
on outside of opening. I would not advise a smaller win- 
dow, as that would make it dark in the passageway and the 
hens could not see well enough to eat. 

Side elevation is self-explanatory; any one can nail that 
together. Studs are 3 feet apart. On the end where the 
door is, the first stud can be set to accommodate door frame. 
A 6 foot or 6 foot 6 inch door can be put in here nicely. 

The north side is perfectly plain— no windows are neces- 
sary. 

Interior fixtures: The partitions between pens are board- 
ed up solid with light stuff to a height of 3 feet from the floor. 
The gate is hung to the 2 by 4 in passage partition. There 
are 4 partitions between pens. These prevent fighting among 
the fowls and they will not dash themselves against this par- 
tition at feeding time as they would if the partitions were 
composed wholly of wire netting. 

The illustrations of a section looking from pen tawards 
the passage show a very convenient and labor saving arrange- 
ment of fixtures, the construction of which is shown on the 
cross section. No. 1 shows the roosts; 2 — droppings board; 
3 — nests; 4 — nest platform; 5 — brace for same; 6— leg to sup- 
port droppings board; 7— door through which to clean same; 
8— door for gathering eggs; 9 — slats for feeding through; 



CLOSED FRONT HOUSES 



10— shelf for holding feed pan, water, etc.; 11— board run- 
ning whole length to keep litter from being scratched into pas- 
sage-way. It is plainly seen how much labor and food this 
arrangement saves. Understand that these fixtures are next 
to the partition which is boarded up 3 feet, consequently no 
fowls are roosting near those of the next pen. The droppings 
board can be hinged to the board partition, or the passage 

partition, so that it can be 
raised up and hooked to allow 
free access to nests for clean- 
ing. Roosts are simply set on 
this platfjrm— not nailed. A 4 inch board is nailed to the 
inside of droppings board to prevent scattering of droppings. 
Nest boxes have no top or bottoms. They are simply 5 
boards 14 inches square fastened on the back with a 6 inch 




The slats are 7 inches long, that is, the space between the 
strips running across pen and top of litter board is 7 inches. 
From the nest platform to the droppings board is 14 inches, 
and with an inch or two added for clearance, will make roost 
platform about .3 feet from floor, or a little less. Platform 
is 5 feet square. Under it there is room for 4 nests 14 inches 
or 5 nests 12 inches wide. Nearly all breeds of fowls can fly 
to roost without inconvenience, except possibly Brahmas or 
Cochins. In that case a ladder could be made to hook on to 
platform to aid them. These nest boxes under platforms are 
dark enough to prevent hens getting bad habits. 

Our poultry house is ceiled inside, except overhead, 
with building paper between. The roof is matched stuff and 
covered with three-ply tar roofing, painted with tar paint. 
This house has withstood all kinds of weather and has never 






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PLAN. AND SECTIONAL VIEWS OF 5-PEN LAYING HOUSE DESIGNED BY ARTHUR DAVIS 



board and on the front with a 4 inch board. After the 
droppings board is raised the nest boxes may be lifted off in 
one piece, leaving all nesting material on platform which can 
be swept onto the floor. 

The leg (No. 6) is hinged so that when the droppings 
board is raised it lays back against the same out of the way. 
All these fixtures are made of %, by \% or 2 inch strip, com- 
monly known as roof lath, with the exception ol the drop- 
pings board and nest platform, which are | or X inch sheath- 
ing. The nest boxes can be made of X Vl\q\\ poplar or any 
light stuff. The distance from floor to top of feed shelf is 10 
inches. Our pans are 2 inches deep and 7 feet long. The top 
of this pan is just even with the top of the 12 inch board. 



been so cold as to admit frost sufficient to freeze a comb on 
a Plymouth Rock. 

Architect's Comment 

This is in general a simple, practical and convenient 
house. It has many desirable labor saving features, allow- 
ing the attendant to take care of many fowls, more, prob- 
ably, than by any other plan. It is, everything considered, 
a very economical building, in which hardly anything could 
Tie omitted, except by sacrificing either ease of access and 
convenience for attendant, or comfort and warmth for both 
attendant and fowl. 



16 



POULTRY HOUSES AND FIXTURES 



Posts are set below the frost line, thus avoiding a mis- 
take too generally made in buildings of this kind. They 
project one foot above ground, insuring a dry floor, not 
liable to decay, and protecting building and fowls alike from 
rats and other vermin. 

Sills are 2 by 6 inches. This insures strength at a place 
where it is most needed. Many builders use 2 by 4's; these 
are insufficient. , 

An unusual feature is paper laid on strips that are 
tacked underneath the stringers, to form an air space be- 
neath the floor for warmth and prevention of moisture from 
the ground. This could probably be done far easier if paper 
were laid on top of stringers, and might answer as well, 
though the designer gives a debatable reason for his method. 

Walls being doubled (that is, boards on either side of 
studs), form an air space, keep out cold and prevent heat 
from escaping. It is presuined that the paper is next to the 
outer boards, which prevents the outer air from entering air 
space, and so keeps the house warmer in winter and cooler 
in summer. 

Roof is made of matched stuff, covered with three-ply 
tarred paper. Being a shed roof, it is more economical than 
a hipped roof, and being highest on north side, it leaves 
sufficient height in passageway, where practically all of the 
work is performed. 

Passageway partition is very conviently arranged, allow- 
ing attendant to do feeding, watering, egg gathering, clean- 
ing, etc., from it. In fact, all work can be done from the 
passage except the removal of litter from floor of pen. It 
would be more desirable if shelf for feed pan would not pro- 
ject into the hallway. To a slight degree it obstructs the 
passage of wheelbarrow, when cleaning droppings board, as 
the barrow cannot be brought up close to wall. Some of the 
droppings would likely fall into the passageway, or still 
worse, into the feed trough. 

Feed troughs, water fountains, nests, etc., being along 
partition of passageway, leaves all of the floor space entirely 
clear, so that it is really a scratching shed. There ought to 
he a dust box somewhere on the floor, of which nothing is 
said by our friend, perhaps unintentionally, for we suppose 
ihe has provided it for his fowls. 

Droppings board is 5 feet square. It might be narrower 
and still be sufficiently wide for the number of fowls men- 
tioned. It is quite inconvenient to clean off a board 5 feet 
"vvide from passageway. 

As stated before, the building is very convenient and 
-well adapted for its purpose. It could be shortened or ex- 
tended and still retain all of its good features. With a few 
alterations it would be very near what we are looking for, a 
j)erfect, well adapted and practical house for fowls. 



wants to go into a particular pen, there is only one door to 
open instead of a number of gates or doors, to say nothing 
of the freedom from chickens in the path. It is a good plan 
to put a row of netting along the lower edge of the roof in- 
clining outward, in order to keep the fowls from flying onto 
the roof and so getting out. 

A narrow trench should be dug 18 inches or more deep 
to receive the foundation. Then broken stone or brick and 
mortar are put in, in layers, and thoroughly rammed. This 
should be brought up level with the ground; on this lay 3 




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28-PLAN. SECTIONAL VIEW AND PERSPECTIVE. OF HOUSE 
DESIGNED BY W. N. HILL 



DOUBLE POULTRY HOUSE 

Plans, Detail of Con^rucflion and Bill of Material for 

a Poultry House, Together with Description 

of the Interior Equipment 



William N. Hill 

HIS house is designed to be either double or continuous. 
Ths plans show it double, but it can be extended to 
any length. The house shown is 12 by 24 feet, divid- 
ed into two pens 12 by 12 feet, each of which will ac- 
■commodate 20 to 25 fowls. There is no inside walk, but as 
the house should face south, the yards will run north, leaving 
the front of the house free from fences. Thus when one 



T 



courses of brick, and bed the wall plate on them in mortar. 

Twelve-foot 2 by 4s are then cut in lengths of 4 feet 6 
inches and 7 feet 6 inches for studding and set at 24 inch 
centers. A 2 by 4 inch wall plate should then be spiked and 
set on top to support the roof. Use 14 foot 2 by 4s for rafters, 
placed at 24 inch centers. Board up tight and cover with a 
good quality Of roofing felt or other material. Use good 
matched German siding for outside walls. Inside walls to 
be lathed and plastered 1 coat, so as not to leave any cracks 
to harbor lice or let in draughts. 

Two standard sized windows are placed side by side in 
each pen and hinged on the inside at the top so that they can 
be swung up out of the way. The outside of the windows to 
be covered with netting. Place a good sized stop in the win- 
dow frame so that the sash will shut up tight against it. 
The doors, one to each pen, made of matched lumber dress- 



CLOSED FRONT HOUSES 



17 



ed on both sides. Size, 2 feet 6 inches by 6 feet 3 inches, 
and hinged to swing outward. 

Make the droppings boards of matched lumber 2 feet 
wide, their length to be governed by the width of the 
pen. Set them 28 or 30 inches from the floor level. The 
roost consists of a 2 by 4 scantling set flat, with the corners 
rounded, about 6 inches above the droppings boards and 1 
foot from the outside edge. The nests are placed under the 
droppings boards. They are 12 inch cubit, a 12 inch board 
forming the bottom and boards 1 foot square the partitions. 
A 4 inch board is nailed along the lower side to keep the 
straw in the nests, leaving 8 inches for the hen to get on or off 
the nest. This side should face the partition wall. The back 
of the nest is closed by a 12 inch board hinged at the bottom 
so as to admit of gathering the eggs. The whole to be 
securely nailed to the under side of the droppings boards so 
as to let the droppings boards project an inch or more beyond 
the nests. This plan of nests prevents egg eating, as the 
nests are always dark. It is easy to gather the eggs and the 
nests are easy to clean. The roost, droppings boards and 
nests are shown in detail in the plan. Place two supports 
under the nests 4 feet from each end. 

The floors should be of natural earth at least 6 inches 
higher than the natural ground level. If the ground is 
inclined to be damp, put a layer of pounded clay in first, 
then fill in with sand or loam. In case the foundation is to 



be omitted, set posts 6 feet apart and use 4 by 4 inch wall 
plates. A good plan is to take 6 inch glazed tile and set 
them in the ground, large end down, and then fill up with 
concrete. This makes a post that will never rot. 

Bill of Material 

72 feet 2 by 4s for plates 

2.5 12-foot 2 by 4s, studding. 

12 14-foot 2 by 4s, rafters. 

420 square feet German siding. 

.350 square feet roof boards. 

100 feet 4-inch b,oards. 

32.5 brick. -' 

4 windows 2 feet 6 inches by 3 feet. 

1,300 lath. 

90 yards plaster, 1 coat. 

90 square feet matched lumber. 

6 1 by 12 foot boards for nests. 

375 square feet roofing felt. 

72 cubic feet rough masonry 

By placing the roosts, roost platforms and nests against 
the back wall instead of next the partition and building a 
door in the partition the care-taker would be able to pass 
from one pen to the other without going outdoors, thereby 
making it more convenient. 



?|ousie for Hapins ftensJ 



Specifications and Plans for a Poultry House Ninety Feet Long Divided into Six Pens for Forty 
Fowls Each — Interior Appurtenances; How they are Made and Arranged 

C. S. Green 



IN BUILDING a poultry house the first thing to be consid- 
ered is the site. It should be located on land which is 
well drained; a slope to the south or east preferable. The 

house should always face the south or east, and in windy 
places a wind break is advisable. 

A trench should be dug for the foundation, deep enough 
to prevent the frost affecting the wall. A good wall should 
be laid of stone or brick and mortar, extending about one 
foot above the surface of the ground. 

The house described is 90 feet long by 15 feet wide, and has 
proved to be a practical house for 2-50 laying hens. Of course 
the length can be made greater or less as conditions require. 

On the foundation 2 by 5 inch sills are laid, halved and 
nailed together at the joints. Next 2 by 4 studs are set up 
2 feet 6 inches apart and toe-nailed to the sills. Plates of 2 
by 4s double thick, nailed together, making them 4 by 4 in 
all, are nailed on top. Then 2 by 4 posts are set up through 
the center of the house 7 feet 6 inches apart, and a 3 by 5 
center piece nailed on top of these. This of course is set on 
edge to support the rafters, which are 2 by 4, 10 feet long, 
spliced on the center plate, making them 16 feet 63^ inches 
long. This length allows for cornice of 6 inches. This com- 
pletes the frame work. (Rafters are 2 feet 6 inches apart.) 

On the outside of the studs building paper is applied, 
and clap boards or any good siding is nailed over that. The 
roof boards are 1 inch thick laid close together and covered 
with tar building paper on which is laid a steel roof or roof- 
ing paper. The inside of the house, roof included, is ceiled 
with planed X inch thick hemlock and the intervening space 
of 4 inches is stuffed with straw or fine shavings as the ceil- 
ing is applied, pounding it in well. 

In very cold mates where the mercury goes to 40 de- 



grees below zero it may be necessary to make the walls 6 
inches thick instead of 4 inches, and in very warm climates 
like Georgia and Alabama, of course one thickness of board is 
enough for the sides, but the roof should be thick enough to 
prevent the sun making the house too warm in hot weather. 

The house is divided into six pens, each 15 feet square. 
First a 2 by 4 is set in place where each partition comes 2 
feet 6 inches from the one under the center plate, making a 
support for the partition and also leaving a space 2 feet 6 
inches wide for the door. (See "a" Figs. 3 and 4, 111. 29). 

The floor is laid by filling in with loose stones nearly up to 
the bottom of the sills, finishing with gravel on top just level 
with the bottom of the sills, and a cement floor laid on this 
about 1 inch thick. The cement is mixed by using 2X bush- 
els of sand to 1 bushel of Portland cement. This makes a 
floor that is rat proof and will last indefinitely. 

The center partition is solid to prevent draughts. (III. 
29.) The other four are boarded up 3 feet high and finished 
with 2 inch mesh wire netting. [Figure 4 shows the 
boarding, but the netting which should appear above it was 
by mistake omitted. — Ed.] 

The bottom of each inside door is 10 inches above the 
fioor to prevent it hitting the scratching material in the pens; 
a board S inches wide being nailed to the fioor and a 2-inch 
space between the door and board, except in the center 
door, which is boarded tight. 

The front of each pen contains a double window 4 feet 6 
inches by 5 feet and 2 feet 6 inches from the floor. Each 
windovv contains 12 panes of 9 by 12 inch glass and is hung 
on hinges, swinging in. In the front of each pen under the 
window is a hole 1 foot square fitted with a slide door, for 
the hens to go through. 



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PLAN AND DETAILS OF HOUSE DESIGNED BY C. S. GREEN 



CLOSED FRONT HOUSES 



19 



Fig. 1 shows the front elevation 9 feet high; also the ar- 
rangement of 'the windows and the doors for hens to pass 
through. (This shows only 3 of the 6 pens.) 

Fig. 2 shows the ground plan of 3 pens. A. A. A. are 
dnst boxes 1 foot high and 3 by 4 feet on the floor. D.D.D. 
are doors 2 feet 6 inches by 5 feet 6 inches inches. Those 
between pens are hung on double action spring hinges. W. 
Water pans. R. Roosts arranged along the back of house. 
Fig. 3 shows the rear elevation, which is 5 feet high. 
Fig. 5 shows the front view of roost platform, roosts, 
nest boxes, lid, and bench on which nests rest. 

First the platform is built 2 feet (> inches above the floor, 
as long as the pen, and 3 feet wide. It is furred in front 2 
inches high to keep the droppings on. There are 2 roosts 2 
by 2 inches and 14 feet 4 inches long nailed to 3 cross-arms 
2 by 3 inches, 3 feet long, hinged to the back wall, so that 
the roosts will be 1 foot above the platform. Three posts 1 
foot long are nailed to the front ends of the cross-arms, rest- 
ing on the platform when the roosts are in position, the 
whole frame being raised and hooked to the wall for clean- 
ing. The roosts are arranged on the cross-a^ms so that the 
first one is 13 inches from the wall, and the secpnd one 14 
inches from the first. 

On the floor under the roost platform is a loose bench 
(Figs, b and 6) 1 foot high, 18 inches wide and 8 feet flinches 
long. The top and supports are all made of 1-inch boards. 
On this bench the nests are set. They are made of 2 1-inch 
boards 8 feet long and 8 inches wide, and 9 pieces of 1-inch 
boards 8 by 10 inches. (See Fig. 7.) This makes 8 nests 10 
hy U inches without top or bottom, but as they are set on 
the bench this forms the bottom, making them very easy to 
clean. 

A board 11 inches wide and 10 feet long is hinged to the 
front of the platform so that when it hangs down it comes 
down 1 inch over the front side of nest boxes, and is raised to 
gather the eggs. The hens enter the ends and jump up on 
the bench and so on to the nests, which being darkened 
make an ideal place for hens to lay. 

Fig. 6 shows the end view of the roosting platform and 
nest arrangment, all the dimensions of which have been 
given. "6" is a post under the center of the roost platform. 
Fig. 8 shows a frame 26 inches long and 1.5 inches wide 
oil which the water pan sets. The water pan is a common 
12 quart milk pan. This rack is made of 2 sticks 1 by 2 
inches, and 26 inches long and 4 sticks X by -/{ inches and 
15 inches long nailed together as shown. It is set 18 inches 
high for Leghorns and 14 inches for the larger breed of fowls. 
One side of it is fastened to the side of the pen and the 
other side is held up by a post in the center of the front side 
extending to the floor. The pan rests on the two center cross 
pieces and the hens jump up on the two outside cross pieces, 
standing there to drink. To keep the hens out of the pan 
and keep the water clean a cover is hung over the center of 
the pan and fastened to the wall, leaving a space 2 or 3 
inches wide and 21>i inches long, which when in position 
sets at half pitch over the pan. (Figs. 10 and 11.) It is 
nailed to two triangular pieces of %-inch stuff (Fig. 9 shows 
one of the pieces) made by sawing a board 15 inches square 
through the center diagonally. The long edges of the two 
pieces are then nailed to the 2 edges of the cover correspond- 
ing in length. It is then ready to be nailed to the wall X 
inch above the pan so it can be easily taken out to be clean- 
ed and filled. The cover being slanting prevents the fowls 
from standing on it and the 2 side pieces mak^ it impossible 
for the hens to get into the pan. Fig. 11 shows the rear view 
of cover ready to place in position. 

Each pen is also equipped with a coop 2 by 3 feet hung 



at the side of the pen in a convenient place, 4 feet from the 
floor and the sides extending to the roof so that hens cannot 
stand on top of it. The coop has a slat front and is used for 
broody hens, male birds, etc. 

For a simple, practical, economical house this plan is 
hard to beat. It is equally well adapted for use on small 
and large plants for housing exhibition breeding stock and 
and fowls kept for egg production, or other market purposes. 

It provides a liberal amount of room for the fowls at a 
reasonable cost for construction and is well arranged to facil- 
itate the work to be performed by the care-taker. It should 
prove satisfactory to any poultryman favoring a closed house. 

Material to be Used 

2,400 pounds cement (Portland), 3 tons sharp sand. 

14 sticks 2 by 5-16 feet long for sills, 187 feet. 

10 sticks 2 by 4-8 feet long for posts, 40 sticks 2 by 4 
5 feet long for studs, 50 sticks 2 by 4-9 feet long for plates, 6 
sticks 3 by 5-16 feet long for plates, 1,340 feet. 

X-inch ceiling planed but not matched, 2,830 feet. 

1-inch roof boards, 1,547 feet. 

X-inch siding, 1,836. 

Material for interior fixtures, including window frames, 
900 feet. 

Building paper, 3,103 square feet 

Roofing material 1,547 feet. 

Total amount of lumber, 8,640 feet; no allowance being 
made for doors and windows. 



A SATISFACTORY HOUSE 

After Due Consideration the Plan Described and 

liberated is Said to be Satisfadory to 

the Birds and Builder 

Fred W. Carmen 

THE never ending subject of poultry houses seems to be 
in order at any and all times. There is hardly a 
month goes by but an article on poultry houses ap- 
pears in some of the poultry papers, and some of them 
are good ones, too. 

I was particularly interested in the one described in a 
recent article by Dr. Bricault; not so much because his 
idea is a good one, but for the fact that I had infringed to 
a certain extent on his idea of the double or two-part door. 
I did so unintentionally, the only difference between his 
door and mine being that I used a piece of an old piano 
cover and tacked it to a frame, which I hinged on the out- 
side of the building, instead of using oiled muslin. 

There are as many different styles of poultry houses as 
there are different breeds of fowls, and of course different 
breeders have their own ideas as to which is the best. The 
one that we are about to consider is intended for laying stock, 
but can be used for cockerels and young stock as well. 

The open front scratching shed house seems to be very 
popular, and is used a great deal, but what I dislike about 
it is that in stormy weather when the curtains are drawn it 
makes the pen too dark unless there is a sash fixed in one- 
half of the opening. Another objection I have to them is 
thatone really has to build two houses to get one, as the floor 
space in the roosting room is used but very little, because 
there is not a great deal of light in there. I don't care what 
some of them say, the more light and sun you can get into 
the pen the more the chickens will enjoy it. And you will 



20 



POULTRY HOUSES AND FIXTURES 



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need tlie windows low so that the sun may reacli clear back 
to the rear wall of the house in the winter time. 

The long house with the hall in the rear is another popu- 
lar plan and is a good idea where the building is intended 
for a brooder house. In the contest held by the R. P. J. I 
submitted a pencil drawing of a house intended to be used 
both ways, but when I came to build one for laying hens I 
found it too complicated, and it cost too much to build. 
After I had tried many different plans 

1 hit upon the one I enclose, and it 
has given me satisfaction. I have 
found the simpler and plainer you 
make your house the less trouble you 
will have to keep it clean and free 
from vermin. Another thing I dis- 
covered is that where you close up 
1.5 or 20 fowls in a small roosting 
room, say 4 by 7, they do not do so 
well, but where the roost is placed in 
one corner of a pen 14 by 10 and left 
open in the front they will do all 
right. 

I will now try to give as clear a 
description of the enclosed plan as I 
can and I invite the readers to pass 
their opinions on it. 

In the first place, select the site 
on ground that is a little higher than 
the surrounding land; then your 
house will be free from dampness, 
which, if in a low spot, would be 
bound to affect it and a damp house 
is worse than none at all. Face the 
building to the south if possible. 

The house is 14 feet long, 10 feet wide, 7 feet liigh in 
front and 6 feet in the rear and of a shed roof style. It can 
be built singly, or two or more in a row. The frame is made 
of 2 by 4 hemlock and the siding, drop boards, etc., are of 
N. C. pine 8 inches wide. The back, sides and roof are cov- 
ered with tarred paper, and the roof has an extra covering 
of Neponset rooting paper. Give the floor a good layer of 
sand and then put about inches deep of hay or straw on 
that. In the front of the building on the west side 18 inches 
above the floor is a dust box three feet wide, six feet long 
and 8 inches deep. Eighteen inches of this box projects be- 
yond the front of the building, and when the sash is in posi- 
tion the whole thing forms a sort of a bay window. You 
would be surprised to see how the chickens enjoy a dust bath 
in this window. Under the part that comes in the building 
build six nest boxes about 12 by 14 inches. Over the dust 
box (with the top hinged to the building and the bottom 
resting on the outer edge of the box) is a hot bed sash 3 feet 
by 6 feet. This sash can be raised in warm weather, and with 
a cover over it or a sunshade, it is a fine, cool place for 
biddy. The door to the pen is in the front near the east 
side and is divided into two equal parts, top and bottom; 
each part .3 feet by 3 feet. A curtain 3 feet square is used foi 
the upper half and is hinged on the outside. 

This curtain is very useful on stormy days' when the wind 
blows hard. The roost platform is 2 feet from the ground 
and is 4 feet wide and seven feet long. To make the plat- 
form we batten 6 pieces of 8-inch boards together and board 
ui^ where the end of the roost comes, allowing the boards 
on this end to go two inches below the roost platform so the 
platform has a cleat to slide on, and in that way it is an 
easy matter to remove and clean. Make the roost poles of 

2 by 3 material and round the upper edges. Secure them at 
the ends by patent brackets or notch out a block and nail on 



each side of them to fit in. They are placed inches above 
the platform, the rear one being 14 inches away from the back 
of the building, and the front one 18 inches from the back 
one. 

That is about all there is to explain. As regards the cost 
and amount of material, of course that varies in different 
localities. Here on Long Island a single house like this plan 
would cost about $22 without labor, and as it will house 25 



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30-PLAN, FRONT AND END VIEWS OF HOUSE DESIGNED BY F. W. CARMEN 



fowls comfortably it makes a cheap building. It will take 
about 600 square feet of boards, 1.5 wall strips 14 feet long, 6- 
rolls of tar paper and 3 rolls of Neponset roofing paper, be- 
sides one hot bed sash 3 by 6 and four pairs of hinges, 
nails, etc. 

By carefully looking at the plan, any point that I liave 
not covered in this explanation may be understood. 

If it is desired to build a long house of this description,, 
in which a walk, or passage, is provided at the rear, it can 
be accomplished by adding sufficient width and covering^ 
the house with a double-pitch roof. 

POULTRY HOUSE WITH HALLWAY 

A Double-slant House with a Convenient Arrange- 
ment of the Interior Fixtures-The Bill 
of Material Required 

R. H. Thomas 



T 



HE poultry house illustrated herewith is 14 feet wide,. 
32 feet long and 8 feet high at the highest point, 
measured 4 feet in from the back wall. This forms 
a two-slant roof. The back wall is 6 feet high. 
The front is the same height. This house contains four breed- 
ing pens. There is a window in each pen, 2 feet 4 inches 
by 3 feet lOinches, containing twelve 8by 10-inch lights. The 
hallway is 4 feet wide, thus making the pens each aboiit 8 
by 10 feet. The distance from the floor to the landing place 
in front of the nests is 3 feet, and as this may be considered 
too much of a jump for the heavier breeds a slanting board 
with slats nailed on may be used for them to walk up. It 
will extend from the floor to the landing mentioned. 



CLOSED FRONT HOUSES 



21 



The following is the mode of 
construction and dimensions of the 
lumber. 

1,530 feet of hemlock boards for 
sheathing and floor. 

520 feet of white pine for siding. 

4 pieces 4x4x16 for bottom beam 
sills. 

2 pieces 4x4x14 for bottom beam 
sills. 

14 pieces 2x6x14 for floor joists. 

16 pieces 2x4x12 for studdings. 

24 pieces 2x4x10 for rafters. 

9 pieces 2x4x16 for interior stud- 
dings. 

16 pieces 1x6x8; 8 pieces 1x3x8 
for nest and drop board supports. 

24 pieces 15 inches by 2 feet for 
nest division. 

8 2x4x1 foot 6 inches to support 
nest and drop board. 

1 bundle of laths. 

145 square feet matched boards 
for drop boards and nest bottoms. 

68 lineal feet 1x3 for doors. 

8 pieces 2x2x8, half-round, for perches. 

24 feet 2-inch wire mesh for doors. 

24 feet 2-inch wire mesh for pen divisions. 

22 feet 2-inch wire mesh for'spaCe from drop boards up. 

5 rolls 3-ply roofing paper. 

4 pieces 1x12x8 for partitions. 
24 hinges. 

Mode of constructing interior is as follows: First divide 
the house 4 feet from back by placing nine pieces 2 by 4s spaced 




"C 



3 1 -INTERIOR ARRANGEMENT OF HOUSE DESIGNED BY R. H. THOMAS 



tend about 6 inches in front of nests. Then divide into 5 
nests, using divisions same as ends. Nail on strips (I by 3 
by 8) marked D, 111. 34, at back of nests, and also strip (1 by 
3 by 8) marked I, 111. 33, on top. Then nail on drop boards 
cut in 2-foot lengths on top of strips marked D and I, 111. 

33. Now nail on top of drop boards two strips of wood 
(1 by 6 by 2) standing on edge, one at each 'end of drop 
boards, and nail on these two strips of half-round (2 by 2 by 8)^ 
for perches, and space them 16 inches apart. Next nail oa 
strip marked F, 111. 34, (size 1 by 3 by 8) 6 inches above strip- 
D. Hinge board E. 111. 34, (size 1 by 6 by 8) to board F, IIU 

34. This makes door back of drop boards for cleaning- 
Next hinge a board C, 111. 34, (size 1 by 6 by 8) to 




32-ARRANGEMENTS OF UPRIGHTS IN HALLWAY OF 
R. H. THOMAS' HOUSE 

in as in 111. 32. Nail on 4 pieces 1 by 6 by 8 (see A., 
111. 33). The ends of nests marked G, in 111. 33 (size 1 by 15 
inches by 2 feet) must be nailed on; the bottom edge being 
18 inches above the floor. Nail strip marked H, 111. 33, (size 
1 by 3 by 8) on the front and n similar one on the back 
marked D, 111. 34. Nail on bottom of nests made of matched 
boards cut in 30-inch lengths. This will allow bottom to ex- 





33-PROVlSION FOR NESTS IN R. H. THOMAS' HOUSE 



34-HALLWAY CONVENIENCES IN R H. THOMAS' POULTRY HOUSE: 

strip D, thus making door at back of nests through which to- 
gather eggs. Nail laths from A to B spaced 4 inches apart. 
Next two strips 2 by 4, 18 inches long, marked .1, to support 
nests and drop boards (see 111. 34). Now make light frame 
door 6 feet 6 inches by 2 feet 6 inches, of 1 by 3 boards and. 
cover with 2-inch wire mesh. Hinge the door to open in. 
Then nail on wire mesh from above drop boards up to roof,. 
and the pen is completed. Proceed with the other pens in- 
like manner. 

Although the house I have described is but 32 feet long, 
there is no reason why one built on the same plan cannot be 
constructed as long as the owner desires. In a very long, 
house build solid partitions every 100 feet to cut off drafts^ . 



^oultrp on a Citp Xot 

The Rear of a City Lot Can be Made to Yield Profit and Pleasure When Devoted to Poultry and Fruit — 

The Author's Methods and Arrangement of Yards and House Described 

In Detail — Advice to the Beginner 



Dwight L. Stoddard 



I DO not expect this article to be of special benefit 
to the extensive poultry breeder, but if it is of 
small benefit to the thousands of families who 
are trj'ing- to raise chickens in the towns, I will 
be g-lad indeed that I have taken the time to 
Avrite it. Never in my life did I have as good 
success in the poultry business as I am having 
today, and all the grovind that is devoted to it is 40 bv 




T!\EL 



©h Q 



35-ARRANGEMENT OF YARD 

70 feet, with even a corner of that cut ofE. I do not ad- 
vocate small pens for the poultry business when larger 
ones can be secured, as I believe there is no danger of 
wide range if the fowls can be properly cared for. 



Plan of the Yard 



The yard should be fenced in to suit your space and 
]ioultry. If it is small it may be hard to get the fence 
high enough if you have an active breed and they have 
been accustomed to a free range. A low fence will dc 
for the larger breeds, especially if it is poultry netting 
and you do not place any rail at the top. With a rail 
they know jiist where to fly and may go over. A wire 
they cannot see as well, so "they seldom try to find the 
top, although it may not be very far from the ground. 

Illustration 35 is the plan of my yard and show.s 
what you may think is a queer arrangement, but you 
will note that each yard has three fruit trees in it, 
which not only increase the value of the rear of the lot 
but are valuable to my poultry as well. You will also 
see how I arrange the front end so as to have the water 
dish for each yard close together, and handy for throw- 
ing any scraps over the fence. The back end of the main 
yard I try to keep covered with litter as the fowls 
greatly enjoy scratching in it and it gives them exercise. 

When I biiilt my poultry house I made the two 
rooms square and intended when I needed more pens to 
build on one or two more. I found in the late fall that 
I did not need the room I had and as I wanted a place to 
store some coke I partitioned off %vith boards about 
three feet high, the pen I now use to set my hens in. 
Above the boards is poultry netting. I have my coke 
used about Christmas and then I'm ready to set the 
first hen. I have my little chicks in the hallway and di 
vide the rest of the house so that I can have breeding 
and laying pens — or, in fact, I divide them up as circum- 
stances demand. If I can get along without one of the 
yards, I sow it with oats, and the fowls that are lucky 
enough to eat the young oats are, indeed, happy. 

Around the house on the east and south sides I have 
gravel. The fowls can pick all they ^vish and it makes 
the house drier and warmer in the cold months. 

To secure shade as soon as possible I first planted 
peach trees which grow rapidly but are not very long 
lived. My peaches are all gone and I have plum and 
cherry trees which are well suited for the chicken yard. 
While the first trees were small, ■ I planted sunflowers 
by tlie fence and also grape vines. Tlie vines also com 
pletely cover the fence at this time so that I am receiv- 
ing an income from the rear of the lot out.side of what 
llie chickens briug in. 

ConSh-udlion of the House 

The house should be tight and warm, especially on 
the north side. Illustration 35a shows my wall, which is 
C-inch boards, batten and tarred paper on the outside of 
the studs, and tarred paper and flooring on the inside. 
The flooring was as cheap and pitchey as possible and 
when I put it up 1 varnished each tongue and groove as 
I went along. Each year I give it a coat of varnish thin- 



POULTRY ON A CITY LOT 



23 



ned do^vIl with turpentine. I thin the varnish so that it 
will dry quickly and it makes a cheap finish that the in- 
sects do not like. In fact, so far they have positively re- 
fused to have anvthing- to do with it. 



n 



H":: 



I 



X 



5 



35-A-CONSTRUCTION OF WALL 

In lUnstration 36 is shown the south front of my 
house. I believe that this wall shoxild be ojien as much 
as possible to let the fresh air and sunlight in. You will 
note that the place where I raise my little chicks is 
nearly all glass. This gives good light all through the 
house, as the partitions are made of poultry netting. 
There is no flooring on the inside of the.se studs as on 
the other sides of the house. While the doors are made 



^ 



36 -SOUTH FRONT HOUSE 

solid yet they are seldom closed — practically never, ex- 
cept on the very 'coldest and stormy days. The open 
spaces are all covered with screen wire; the windows 
can be opened over to the doors, which with the open 
doors, gi^e plenty of fresh air. As the ventilation comes 
from the one side, there is no objectionable draught. 

The east end of the house should be well lighted and 
may be ventilated also, but I never open the window in 
the east except in the hottest weather. Illustration 36-a 
shows my plan which 1 think is fairly good. It looks 
better and is really cheaper than a shed roof, for with 

the same pitch of 
roof there would be 
just that much more 
front, and this is 
not necessary. There 
is no roof equal to 
the shingle roof, for 
it makes a good, 
dry roof and leaves 
openings for ven- 
tilation. Concrete 
makes the best and 
cheapest p o u 1 1 r y 
house floor that it 
is possible to con- 
struct. 

Illustration 3f)-b 
is my way of con- 
structing the doors. 




36-A- EAST END OF HOUSE 



Each door consists of a solid door that is seldom shut — 
yet nevertheless, very necessary at times — and a screen 
door hinged to the other door. The screen door is shut 
when the solid door is open, and when the solid door is 
closed a square-turned hook is simjjly turned over the 
screen door. This fastens it completely to the solid 
door and then the screen door is absolutelj' nothing. 
Unless you look for it you would not realize it was anj'- 
where. The swinging of the doors "makes them both 
shiit in the same place and fasten with the same fasten- 
er. When the solid door is shut and the screen door 
fastened to it. it comes back, as you will notice, and the 

screen door comes 

, clear of the rabbet. 

ITT ~ ~ "T -^^^ Of course the screen 

doors on oiir dwell- 
ing houses swing 
from the outside of 
the jamb while the 
solid door swings 
from the inside, but 
the wall on llie 
south side of luy 
, chicken house is too 

I thin to afford a 

' door jamb. Again, 1 

H do not want any of 

my chicken house 
doors swinging out 
in the wind. 



4g 



36-B-DOOR PLAN 



x 



36.C-ROOST PLAN 



In illustration 3fi-c is shown my plan of roost which is 
very simple and easj- to handle. You will notice that there 
are two light trestles sitting on the concrete floor. On 

them are two 1 by 

4's covered with y^ 
inch himber which 
make a nice, light 
~ ! drop board. Above 
that are two boards 
]0 inches wide and 
the roosts are nail- 
ed to them. All can 
be taken out quick- 
ly, and easily and 
thoroughly cleaned, 
though as each time 
I clean the drop 
boards I sprinkle on 
fresh lime and fresh 
dirt, I do not find it 
necessary to take them out often. Above the roosts 
are loose flooring boards which I cover with straw in 
the winter and remove them in summer. Early hatched 

chicks should have a 
chick pen from 2 to 
4 feet wide, accord- 
ing to the number of 
chicks. Illustration 
36-d presents the 
plan of one which 
is nothing but a box 
with a loose parti- 
tion in it. The par- 
tition should be re- 
movable so that it 
can be readily clean- 
ed. It should be there 
also so as to make 



36-D-CHICK PEN 



2* 



POULTRY HOUSES AND FIXTURES 



a. room to eat and another to sleep in. Illustration 36-e 
shows the construction of the roof orer the brood cham- 
ber. The roof should be solid and can be easily made 
frbm flooring nailed together with a cleat. The roof 
over the exercising pen should be a window sash hinged 
to the roof of the brooding chamber. Just below the 
glass there should be a screen so that you can give the 
needed ventilation and yet prevent any rodents from mo- 
lesting the chicks. 

Illustration 36-f shows my style of nests. They are 
simply four boards about 15 inches long with a top on 
them and a little piece at the bottom to keep the eggs 
from falling out. This latter board is independent of the 
bottom part so that the nests can be quickly removed and 
cleaned. These three large nests are sufficient for any 
small pen. 

Illustration 36-g is the rear view of my nests. By 
looking at the plan of my house and yard (111. 35) you 
will note that one side of the nests — the nest side — opens 
into laying pen, while the other side opens into the 
chick hall. I think you can plainly see how easily the 
slat doors can be taken out and how they are arranged. 

The nests are above, 
and below there are 
accommodations for 
two hens and their 
chicks. 




36-E- ROOF PLAN 



De^ru(5tion of Vermin 

You have prob- 
ably heard of the 
man who burned his 
"barn to get rid of the rats, but I find that concreting 
the floor is better. I like one of the liquid lice killers 
or kerosene and carbolic acid for painting around the 
roosts, and occasionally dry lime and sulphur. Wet 
lime (which is commonly called whitewash) is a good 
thing, indeed, in the beginning, but to keep it up and let 
it get dry and full of filth, and then continue to cover it 
up is too filthy for me. The above and many other ways 
are satisfactory to keep the building free from lice. I 
know of nothing as reliable as insect powder or dry 
.lice killer for the poultry proper. 



The Value of Poultry 

To a resident of the city that has to purchase every 
-article he eats and much of it greatly adulterated, the 
aalue and pleasure it is to know that you always have 



36-F- NEST PLAN 



absolutely new-laid eggs; fine fryers and all other sizes 
always at your command can never be known or appre- 
ciated. A man in the 
city spends hun- 
dreds of dollars 
taking his children 
out in the fresh air 
and to places of 
amusement and en- 
joyment, and unless 
it is carried to the 
extreme it is money 
well invested. I sup- 
pose my children 
are much like all 
others, still there is nothing they enjoy as much as to 
go out and take a peep at the little chicks just out of the 
shell — although they have seen the same thing hundreds 
of times, yet they enjoy my poultry from the baby chick 
to the cock o' the walk. The fowls are not only an en- 
joyment to myself and family, but an education to my 
children, and there is nothing more valuable than prac- 
tical education. There is far more value in raising poul- 
try on a city lot than the mere dollars and cents you re- 
alize from it in a direct way. 

Commence right by having nothing but healthy fowls 
in your house, keep it clean of filth and free from vermin, 
feed as good variety of all poultry foods as you can easily 
secure, don't forget the green food and above all don't 
neglect giving your fowls plenty to eat, plenty of fresh 
water to drink and plenty of exercise. On your city lot 
keep the birds on the run from the time they come out 
of the shell until they are ready for the market, dispose 

of them as soon as 
you can, thin out 
the large ones and 
fill up with more 
chicks and you vHll 



rmfifiii mrnufi 



be surprised how 
many you can 
handle in a small 
space. Don't make 
the mistake of try- 
ing to keep too 
many by filling the 
main pens too full. 
This method has turned thousands of good eggs into 
healthy, full grown chickens for me, and a similar 
method will undoubtedly, do the same for anyone who is 
in love with the work — whether on a city lot, a few acres 
or a farm. 



36-G-REAR OF NESTS 



PIANO BOX POULTRY HOUSE 



(For Illustration 

This house is made by removing the backs and tops 
•of two piano boxes of the same size. Two pieces 6 inches 
wide and 20 inches long are ripped diagonally across 
from corner to corner and fastened to the top of both 
boxes at each end to give a sufficient pitch to the roof. 
Then a door 4 feet, 6 inches high and 16 inches wide is 
cut out of one of the boxes. Place the boxes back to 
back and fasten them together with two upright strips 
about 4 inches wide and 4 feet, 6 inches long; each 
fastened with four screws IVa inches long. Then the top 
boards are nailed down and a strip of 3 or 3 inches wide 
is nailed around the edge of the roof to give it projec- 



see page 13.) 

tion. The roof is then covered with a layer of tarred felt. 

A small window is then cut out near the top and 
contains an 8 by 10-inch sliding glass. The other window 
contains four 8 by 10-inch panes. Both have iron bars 
across, made from old buggy tires. There will be plenty 
of lumber left from the backs of the boxes to make 
dropping board, roost, window casing, corner casing, etc. 

The total cost of this house to me was $1.85, as fol- 
lows: Paint, (two coats) 80 cents; padlock, 25 cents; 
hasp, 10 cents; hinges, 10 cents; roofing, 35 cents; win- 
dow, 35 cents. 

HARRY B. PHIPPS. 



CLOSED FRONT HOUSES 



25 



CHEAP HOUSE FOR SMALL FLOCK 

A Simply Built and Convenient Low-Co^ Poultry 

House with Maximum Amount of Floor Space 

and Heathful Method of Ventilation 

A. F. Almendinger 

THE house illustrated is 8 by 8 feet in size. The front 
wall is 6 ft. 2 in. high, the rear wall 5 feet high. The 
window is 2 ft. 6 in. square; the door, 2 ft. 6in. by 
6 ft. 6 in. This house has a shed roof and is covered, 
roof and sides, first with good sheathing paper, then with 
Neponset Red Rope Roofing, secured by strips % hy % 
inches, placed 18 inches apart. Make the sills and plates by 
halving 2 by 4's and place in position, using no studs, but 
nailing boards right to sills and plates. 

I have used four of these houses for the past five years and 
do not believe they can be improved on for comfort and health 
of both fowls and 
their keepers. 
They face south 
and rest on stones 
at each corner, 
thereby being rais- 
ed 6 inches above 
the ground. They 
are filled up inside 
with 1 foot of dry 
earth and sifted 
coal ashes. The 
ground outside is 
graded so that the 
water will run 
away from the 
building. The floor 
inside is of earth 
and is perfectly 
dry and they need 

no dust box, for the whole floor is a dust heap. Floors are 
covered with 6 inches of straw, into which all grain is 
thrown, and the hens have to work or starve. The window 
i hinged at the top and swings in. The window and 
door in winter, no matter how cold the weather, are 

(except in a driving snow 
I have never had a Plymouth 
Rock or a Wyan- 
dotte freeze a comb 
under these con- 
ditions, and al- 
though water 
would freeze solid 
in the watering 
pans, I always got 
plenty of eggs 
during the coldest 
weather, and the 
eggs gathered be- 
fore being chilled 
were almost all 
fertile. This year 
1 have covered the 
window with mus- 
lin and shall never close it except at night in the coldest 
weather. I think that with a house of this kind a scratching 
shed is unnecessary. 

The droppings boards are along the north wall, made ot 




37-A SIMPLE, CONVENIENT POULTRY 
HOUSE DESIGNED BY A. F. ALMENDINGER 



always opened at 9 a. 
storm) and closed at 4 p. 



ni. 
m. 




38- 



-SECTIONAL VIEW OF POULTRY HOUSE 
DESIGNED BY A F. ALMENDINGER 



matched boards 20 inches wide and 8 feet long, with a 1 by 
3 piece nailed to the front to strengthen it, and to prevent 
the droppings from falling off. Cleats are nailed to the side 
and rear walls on which the droppings boards rest 2 feet 
from the floor. The droppings boards are not fastened, so 
they can be easily removed. The roost, is 3 by 3 inches, 8 
feet long, having the upper edges rounded. It is 9 inches 
above the droppings boards and held in place by cleats 
nailed' to side walls and notched to hold it firm. It can be 
quickly and easily removed. 

A double nest is hung by hooks to each side wall, 2 feet 
from the floor. A piece of common sacking nailed to the top 
at front and hanging down to within an inch of bottom, serves- 
as a curtain and darkens the nests. When trap nests are 
used these curtains are taken off and trap doors hinged to 
the front. Nests placed so are much easier to handle than 
when under droppings boards and do not take up any floor 
space. 

For a water vessel I use in winter a porcelain-lined gran- 
ite pan 14 inches in diame- 



r 



J- :^onJ7-^' 



t JO^n^ jyto'r>9>«" 



i 



\^ 



'.y^.y- 






/iwr^A 



39-PLAN OF POULTRY HOUSE 
DESIGNED BY A. F. ALMENDINGER 



ter and 4 inches deep, 
placed on a shelf near the 
door, 9 inches from the 
floor. These pans are high 
priced, but are easily clean- 
ed and will last. In sum- 
mer I use a low one gallon 
butter jar. I use a four 
compartment grit-hopper 
for grit, oyster shell, char- 
coal and dry ground bones. 
My feed tray for mash is 4 
feet long, 6 inches wide, 4 
inches from the floor, with 
IX inch strips on sides to 
keep mash in. Its ends are 
10 inches wide at bottom, 
narrowing at top to 2 inches. 

It is 10 inches high. A 2 inch strip 4 feet long is nailed 
to tops to keep fowls from soiling their food. 

Scraper for cleaning droppings board is a piece of gal 
vanized iron 12 by 12 inches, turned up two inches on one 
end and a 1 by 2 piece of wood nailed to it. Sides turned 
up 1 inch with ends cut to a point similar to a dust pan. 

If I were to build a long house it would be exactly on 
this plan, making pens 8 feet square, with a window and a 
door in the front of each pen. Solid partitions between all 
pens with doors connecting pens, swinging both ways and 
placed near the front of the pens. 

Material Required 

6 pieces 2 by 4 in. 8 ft. long. 

2 pieces 2 by 4 in. 8^ ft. long. 

264 ft. 1 inch rough hemlock. 

1 old sash. 

165 ft. % by % strips to secure paper. 

Matched boards 8 ft. long, 20 in. wide. 

1 piece 3 by 3, 8 ft. long for roost. 
About 300 ft. sheathing paper. 
About 300 ft. Red Rope Roofing. 

2 pairs hinges. 

Archited's Comment 

The main features which recommend this small house 
are cheapness and simplicity. As wilF be seen by the de- 
scription there is not one superfluous board or timber in the 



26 



POULTRY HOUSES AND FIXTURES 



entire building. It is, however, sufficiently strong for the 
purpose and is practical and convenient. All fixtures are 
raised above ground, leaving the entire floor space for use as 
a scratching shed. 

This would make a satisfactory colony house. It is -not 
so heavy but that it could be easily removed from place to 
place. 

The fixtures shown are simple and answer the purpose 
well. 

The building might be six inches higher in front without 
additional cost, as the lumber now cuts to waste and this is 
not necessary. 



CLOSED FRONT HOUSE 

A Cheaply Conllrudted, Convenient Poultry House 
for Two Flocks 



'H 



George Wolfrum 

S plan is for building a small closed front house. 



Tit is 20 feet long, 10 feet wide, 8 feet high in front 
and 5 feet at the rear. To bnild the frame for this 
house requires four pieces of 2 by 4, 20 feet long, two 
pieces of 2 by 4, 10 feet long, tliree pieces 8 feet long, three 
■ pieces 5 feet long and five pieces 12 feet long. It will require 
200 feet of boards to cover the roof. The siding should be 
nailed on up and down and 400 feet of tongued and grooved 
hemlock siding and flooring will be 

needed. Put single-ply tar paper, held 

by caps and nails, on the sides of the 
house to prevent drafts and dampness 
and protect the fowls; it is water and 
wind proof. It will take 2000 shingles 
to covei the roof. 

Doors 2 feet wide and 5 feet high 
should be placed at each end of the 
building near the front. The one in 
the west end may be closed and batten- 
ed in winter to keep out the wind. It 
is well to put a small window, 24 by .30 
inches, in the east end to admit more 
light in the forenoon. Place two win- 
dows on their sides on the sills of the 
house in such a manner that the sashes 



will overlap and will slide both ways to secure ventilation. 
These windows may be of any size, bub I prefer to have 
them 30 by 48 inches, as that size admits plenty of light dur- 
ing the day and does not radiate so much cold during winter 
nigfits as larger ones. Build small doors near each window 
through which the fowls can pass in and out; these can be 
closed by dropping boards a little larger than the oi^ening 
into grooved uprights fastened to the inside of the boarding. 

To ventilate this house place a 14-inch board, 2 feet long 
on end at one side of each small door, so that the 14-inch 
dimension will be at right angles to the front of the house. 
■ To the inner edge of this board nail a 16 inch board, 2 feet 
long, so that it will be parallel to the front of the house and 
prevent the wind blowing directly into and across the floors 
of the building through the opening. If too much air enters 
it may be regulated by placing a small board on top of the 
14 and 16 inch boards. Then cut a 4 by 12 inch opening in 
the front side, 6 inches below the roof, to let out hot and foul 
air. These openings can be closed at night by small doors. 

Nail boards to the inside of the sills to fill the space from 
the ground to the base of the building, which is supported 
by bricks placed under the sills. Fill the space even with 
the sills with dry earth. 

Place tables 4 by 6 feet in size and .3 feet high in the 
northwest and northeast corners of the building. A few 
inches above these tables place two roosts of 2 by 4 material, 
each 6 feet long and supported by pieces resting on the table. 
Tack pieces of burlap to the under side of the roof to hang to 
a point below the top of the tables and enclose the space in 
which the fowls roost. The burlap in front can be rolled up 



=^' 




40-FRONT ELEVATION- MR. WOLFRUM'S POULTRY HOUSE 



"noostt 



^rcp ^fr\f eoOTti 



Mt%h 



Wi^rfau- 



Cjlt 



SK 



^T a 



Jfetts 



C.C»t 



k 



41-PLAN SHOWING LOCATION OF INTERIOR FIXTURES-MR WOLFRUM'S 
POULTRY HOUSE 



and fastened to the ceiling by strings 
when not needed. 

Build a partition across the mid- 
dle of the house running from the 
rear wall to within 2 feet of the front 
wall. This partition should be built 
of boards to the height of 4 feet and 
filled above the boards with poultry 
netting. Hang a door 2 feet wide 
and 5 feet high in the space left. 
Hang grit, shell, charcoal and bran 
boxes on each side of this partition, 
12 inches from the floor. Cut a hole 
in the partition, near the door, 4 
inches high by 16 inches wide, and 
place a board at the bottom of the 
opening to form a shelf. On this 
shelf place a sheet iron water pan 
2 inches deep, 14 wide and 20 long. 



CLOSED FRONT HOUSES 



27 



This will contain water enough for the fowls in each pen. 
If this shelf is built wide enough so that the birds will 
perch upon it when drinking, less dirt will get into the pan. 

We had 30 Single Comb White Leghorn pullets confined 
in a closed house like this all winter and they have laved re- 
markably well. 

This would make a very good colony house in which to 
house a large flock kept solely for egg production. The par- 
tition could then be omitted and the boxes for grit, shells, 
charcoal, bran, etc., could be hung on the walls. 



A CONTINUOUS HOUSE 

Description of House With Bill of Lumber Necessary 
to Con^rud It 

J, D. W. Hall 

MY ILLUSTRATION shows the scratching-shed plan, 
with roosting room in connection. The roosting 
room is protected by a muslin curtain that drops 
down from the roof on cold nights. The front of 
house can be entirely opened by doors swinging to roof and 



Floor joist, 4 2x4 18 feet. 

Rafters, 4 2x4 20 feet. 

Rear studding, 4 2x4 5 feet. 

Front studding, 4 2x4 7 feet. 

Side studding, 2 2x4 bX feet. 

Side studding, 2 2x4 6X feet. 

Plates for rafters, front and rear, 2 2x4 10 feet. 

Floor joists, front and rear, 2 2x4 10. feet. 

Matched boards, 375 feet. 

Roof sheeting, 200 feet. 

Flooring, 180 feet. 

Two 6-light windows. 

Droppings boards, 27 feet, barn boards. 

Roosts, 18 feet 1x2 strips. 

For continuous house plan, add inside doors on spring 
hinges; partitions (boards 2 feet high, balance wire netting). 
Wire netting is nailed to front of house to keep fowls inside 
of pen when doors are fastened to roof. No wire is in front 
of window. For continuous house the runs are opened up so 
that a wagon and team can go the entire length of house to 
haul out old litter and place fresh in pens. 

This plan saves a great amount of labor. We use crack- 
er boxes with end cut down half way, top fastened on with 
hinges, for a cheap form of nest box. 



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42— PLANS OF CONTINUOUS HOUSE, DESIGNED BY J. D. W. HALL 



hooked to screw-eye hooks. In warm weather the front is al- 
ways left open, much to the enjoyment of the fowls; it is also 
opened up on bright warm days in winter to dry the house. 
This is very essential to the health of the fowls, and is the 
best way to keep the walls dry after frosty nights. 

Each pen has a run 10 by 100 feet on north and south sides. 
Grit boxes are hung on screw-eye hooks to partitions. Nest 
boxes are placed on the floor under the roost boards. Water 
cans sit on a little elevated stand. 

The plan can be used with floors or not. Floors are much 
better for sanitary purposes as well as to protect fowls fr6m 
rodents. The floors are set 1 foot from the ground. 

Our fox terrier resides under the floors. 

Timber and Dimensions 



For one pen 10 by 18 feet, 5 feet high in rear, 7 feet in 



front: 



LOW COST POULTRY HOUSE 

A Scratching Shed Colony House for Twenty Fowls 
— CoSt, Including Labor, Twenty Dollars 

R. G. Buffinton 

I WISH to describe one of my poultry houses. 1 have 
forty-one of these placed in a row; each is 14 feet long, 
7 feet wide, 6 feet high in front and 4 feet in the rear, 
with a shed roof. 
The frame is of 2 by 4 spruce and the building, except a 
space 4 feet long on the front side, is enclosed with hemlock 
boards dressed on one side. It is covered with Neponset or 
Rubberoid roofing and painted with tar paint. There is one 
full window in the front (south) side. Ten feet of the length 
of each house is floored with hemlock boards and partition- 



58 



POULTRY HOUSES AND FIXTURES 



D 
D 



ed off, dividing the house into a floored 
room 10 feet long and a shed ^ feet long. 
The door in this partition is 2 feet wide 
with a 12 inch space in the top, covered 
with « ire netting. Two frames of 1 by 2 
inch spruce each 2 by 6 feet in size, and 
•covered with oiled cotten cloth hung 
together with hinges, form the front of the 
shed. One of the frames is made fast and 
the other serves as a door. 

A roost platform 3 feet wide extends 
across the far end of the 10 foot room and ~ 

two roosts are placed 10 inches above the 45. 

platform. In each house there is a feed 
hopper with three compartments; one 
compartment for the meal mixture, which 
is fed dry, one for the whole grains and one for grit and shells. 

In one of these houses I have successfully wintered 
twenty hens of the larger breeds, or twenty-five of the small- 
er breeds. The cost of construction, including the amount 
paid for labor, was not far from $20 each. 



SUCCESSFUL SOUTHERN HOUSE 



PLAN SHOWING LOCATION OF ROOSTS. WATER DISHES. GRIT BOXES. ETC. 
-SUCCESSFUL SOUTHERN POULTRY HOUSE 



windows is covered with 1 inch mesh wire netting, to keep 
out sparrows, minks and rats. In summer the windows are 
left wide open, thus making the house equal to an open shed. 
As winter approaches, the temperature is controlled by open- 



the 

the 



Poultry Building that 
in the 



has Proved Satisfactory 
South 




M. Bock 

WHEN we have our young stock in winter quarters 
we begin to look for a full egg basket, as eggs 
are most valuable during the winter months. 
Some people in this locality wonder why their 
hens do not lay in winter. In many cases this is due to neg- 
lect or bad housing, as the houses are of the "catch-a-cold" 
kind. The poultry breeder who cares for his fowls will build 
them a proper kind of a house, such as can be made cool in 
summer and warm in winter. I am a firm believer in fresh 
air, but it should not be obtained through cracks or open 
spaces all around the house. 

The house I prefer is 16 feet long and 8 feet wide, 7 feet 
high in front, 6 feet at rear and 9 feet at the peak, the roof 
being made of the short front and long back style. The house 
is built facing the south, there being two large windows in 
front, each 4 feet (i inches in height by 3 feet 10 inches wide. 
"These windows are divided in the center. The outside of 






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44-VIEW SHOWING PARTITION-SUCCESSFUL 
SOUTHERN POULTRY HOUSE 




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43-FRONT VIEW SHOWING ONE WINDOW THROWN OPEN FOR VENTILATION 
SUCCESSFUL SOUTHERN POULTRY HOUSE 



ing or shutting the windows, as is thought best. As 

windows are large, they will admit plenty of sunlight in 

pens. The 

house is divid- 
ed into two 

rooms, 8 by 8 

feet square. 

Tlie droppings 

boards are 3 

feet 4 inches 

wide and are 

placed along 

the rear wall, 

3 feet from the 

floor. The 

roosts are 

placed 1 foot 

above the 

platform, 1 

foot from the 

wall, and are 

18 inches 

apart. This 

may be a little too high for the larger breeds, but is suitable 

for our S. C. White Leghorns. Litter is placed on the floor, 

which prevents them hurting their feet when jumping from 

the roosts. Nest boxes, 12 by 12 inches in size, are placed 

under the roost platform. 

A house such as I have described 
can be built cheaply, and with a little 
care, will last a lifetime. It is built 
entirely of tongued and grooved lum- 
ber, 1 inch thick. The sills are 4 by 6 
inches, and the plates and rafters all of 
2 by 4 pine. If the farmer would take 
more pains to properly house and feed 
his poultry there would not be so many 
complaints of empty egg baskets. A 
gentleman once boastingly remarked to 
me that when he lived in the country 
he raised plenty of chickens without 
building a chicken house, allowing them 
to roost in the trees and on fence tops, 
and he said they were none the worse 
for it. He fed them some whole corn 
■ and they hunted for the rest of their 
food. When I asked him if his hens 
laid in winter he admitted that they 



CLOSED FRONT HOUSES 



29 



n 





did not, but said he believed nobody's hens did. I told him 
I gathered eggs all winter, but that I did not let luy hens 
roost in the trees. When I mentioned that I sold eggs at 40 
cents a dozen from November to February, he said, "You 
must have made money." I said, "That's just what I did." 

To be satisfactory in the warm weather which sometimes 
prevails in the south, a poultry house 
must be so constructed that it can be 
transformed into what is very near an 
open shed. This can best be accoiu- 
phshed by opening windows and doors. 
If the house is simply a shed it will be 
sufficient to protect the fowls housed in 
it during the warm months, but is not 
at all adequate for use during the cold, 
rough weather that sometimes is experi- 
enced in the winter season. 

In the house I have described 
enough air can be admitted to make 
the fowls comfortable during the warm- 
est nights. The same building may be 

tightly closed when the colder and stormy weather of the 
winter months makes better protection for the fowls neces- 
sary. Very likely our southern fowls are more susceptible 
to cold than those raised in the north and need as much pro- 
tection as northern birds would in a lower temperature. 



A BUSINESS POULTRY HOUSE 

A House Well Lighted, Enclosed Scratching Shed 
That Can Be Thoroughly Ventilated 

Percy J. Trail 

THIS house will very likely secure the approval of poul- 
trymen who do not like the ordinary open front 
scratching shed, but would like to provide some place 
other than the roosting room where the fowls can ex- 
ercise and be protected in cold weather and where plenty of 
air can be admitted in mild weather. 

The house that I constructed from this plan is 48 feet 



each end of the house, and each pen is lighted by a horizontal 
window containing eight lights of glass. 

The roosts and roost platform, instead of occupying a 
position at the rear of the pen, as in most houses, are located 
at the front of the pens extending at right angles to the front 
wall. Both roosts and platforth are hinged to the wall and 




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47-VIEW SHOWING END AND FRONT ELEVATION-A BUSINESS POULTRY HOUSE 



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-PLAN SHOWING INTERIOR ARRANGEMENT AND LOCATION OF YARD- 
A BUSINESS POULTRY HOUSE 



may be turned up and hooked to the roof during the day. 

The dust boxes are placed directly in front of the win- 
dows, where they get the most benefit from the sun. The 
food troughs occupy spaces in the bases of the rear parti- 
tions, where they may be pushed far enough into the pens 
when filled for the fowls to eat and drawn back into the walk 
after they have finished. When the fowls are eating the back 
of the trough fills the space in the partition and when it 
is drawn back the front side closes the opening. 

The nests are in the partitions above the feed troughs, 
where the eggs can be gathered from the walk. 

The scratching sheds are 9 by 14 feet. Every foot of floor 
space is available for the use of the fowls. Three full vertical 
windows admit plenty of light when closed during storms or 
very extreme weather and convert the pen into nearly an 
open shed when thrown open in pleasant or mild weather. 

Both the roosting and scratching pens are entered from 
the walk. There are no doors between the pens. 

The yards extend forward from the front of the house, 
two to each combined roosting and scratching pen, each 12 
feet wide. By having two yards for each fiock one can be 
used while the other is sowed with grain 
to furnish a green run when the green 
food in the other is used up. By alter- 
nating in that w'ay the flock can have a 
green yard at all times, unless it 
includes more fowls than should be kept 
upon the area enclosed. 

The partitions that enclose the 
roosting room are tightly built of boards; 
all other partitions are built 2 feet high 
with boards and above that with wire 
netting. 

The fowls go from the roosting pens 
through the scratching sheds (more 
properly pens) to reach the yards; 
there is no direct entrance from the 
yard to the roosting pen . 



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long by 12 feet wide. It is 7 feet high at the peak, which is 
directly above the partition between the wall and pens. The 
front posts are 5 feet high and the rear posts 6 feet high. 
The passage, from which the pens are entered, occupies a 
space 3 feet wide between the pens and the north side of the 
house. 

There are two roosting pens, each 9 by 10 feet, one at 



Every yard fence has a gate 3 feet wide, just in front of 
the house, through which a horse can be led to plow up the 
yards if desired. 

This house can be framed of 2 by 4 stuff, covered with 
tongued and grooved boards and made water and wind proof 
by covering with roofing fabrics. 



30 



POULTRY HOUSES AND FIXTURES 



HOUSE FOR EIGHTY FOWLS 

With Separate Scratching and Rooming Pens and 

Includes Many New and Valuable Features 

- -Comments by Archited 

Ernest C. Bischoff 

THE acooinpanying drawings show a poultry house for 
two flocks of hens, forty in each flock. The building 
faces the south, is 54 feet long, 12 feet wide, 7 feet 
high in front and 4 feet high in tfie rear. It contains 
two scratching pens, each 12 by 20 feet, and two roosting 
jiens 12 by 7 feet. The scratching pens are lighted by two 




I 1 1^1 l[ 



yards are 



48-ELEVATION OF HOUSE FOR TWO FLOCKS OF FORTY FOWLS USED BY 
ERNEST C^ BISCHOFF 



large windows 3 by 6 feet, with separate doors 3 by ti ft. lead- 
ing into yard. The roosting pens each have a 3 by 6 ft. win- 
dow, provided with outside shutters, which are closed on 
winter nights. A 3 by 6 ft. double swinging door opens into 
each scratching pen from the outside. A similar door opens 
from scratching pen into roosting pen and from there into 
the next roosting pen, and so on. This takes the place of 
an alley and gives just that much more room for the hens, 
besides saving lumber in constructing the house. 

On the rear wall of scratching pen are three platforms, 
each 2 feet wide and 4 feet long, with a 
board on the outer edge, 12 inches high. 
This will hold four nest boxes and they 
maybe darkened by hinging a cover to 
the wall, 30 inches above platform. 
Twelve nest boxes are sufficient for forty 
fowls. Coops for holding extra males 
may be placed on a side wall, also the 
grit and feed boxes. Space und-er nest 
boxes may be used for three good sized 
dust boxes. 

The scratching pen contains 240 
square feet, allowing each fowl 6 square 
feet. The door leading into the roosting 
pen is placed near the rear wall so 
as to provide an easy retreat in case they 
are frightened and is raised 6 inches 
from floor to prevent litter being scratch- 
ed out. This scratching pen gives ample 
room for poultry when the weather is 
inclement. The large windows admit 
the sunlight and air, which helps to pre- 
vent disease. These windows can be 
removed in the summer and replaced by 
wire netting, with half awnings to keeji 
out the hot sun during the heat of the 
day. 

The roosting pen contains absolutely 
nothing except the perches. These are 
7 feet long, made of 2 by 3 in. stuff set on 
edge, and are raised 2 feet from the 
floor. There are six of these, making 



42 feet of perch room for forty fowls, and they are spaced 13 
inches, except the end perches, which are 12 inches apart. 
Computing the cubical contents of roosting pens, we have 
462 cubic feet — llX cubic feet for each fowl. 

The foundation walls of this house are made of concrete, 
3 ft. 6 in. deep and 6 inches wide. The floor is also made of 
concrete 2 or 3 inches thick and is proof against both rats and 
dampness, besides giving a clean floor. In the roosting pen 
this is a great advantage, as it does away with the droppings 
boards, and the perches being removable, makes the clean- 
ing an easy matter. 

The partitions between the scratching and roosting ])ens 
are built all tlie way up to the roof. We do not favor wire 
netting partitions for the reason that they create drafts. The 
outside walls should be built double, so 
as to make the building warm. The 
more air tight a house is built, the 
easier it is to ventilate. There are two 
3-inch galvanized iron ventilating pipes 
in roosting pen, one opening outside at 
the bottom, the other opening outside 
at the top. A building such as herein, 
described may be made 108 feet in 
length, so as to accommodate four flocks 
of forty hens. We consider forty hen." 
to be about the right number to a flock, as a less number 
requires the same amount of labor, with less profit. The 



feet wide and 150 feet long. 
Comment 



This building is a very good one and shows considerable 
thought. Some of the good features; Con(jrete foundation 
and floor. Foundation is sufficiently deep to be below frost 
line and also for preventing rodents from entering house. 




49— PERSPECTIVE VIEW OF THE HILLSIDE POULTR"!' HOUSE DESIGNED BY P. R. MOORE 



CLOSED FRONT HOUSE 



31 



The walls are double, with air space, 
presumably, insuring warmth as well 
as stability. The arrangement is good, 
the larger portion of building being used 
for scratching shed; however, the roost- 
ing pen is ample. 

Suggestions: All perches should be 
18 inches apart, especially the one next 
to the wall. As shown, this perch is 
only 12 inches from the siding. This is 
not sufficient room for fowls to turn 
without damaging plumage, particularly 
the tail. 

Front windows would be better if only about 4 feet high. 
Too much glass means cold surface in winter and hot in sum- 
mer; also unnecessary expense. 

Dust boxes would be of more advantage in front of build- 
ing where they could get sunlight for purification; and also 
because fowls isrefer to dust themselves in the sun. 

A curtain in front of perches, which could easily be sup- 
plied, would add to warmth of fowls in winter. 



A HILLSIDE POULTRY HOUSE 

How a Satisfadory Poultry House with a Converti- 
ble Shed was Con^ruded on a Hillside 

Paul R. Moore 

WHEN one must build on a hillside, a house with a 
basement is the most satisfactory. When build- 
ing my house I excavated a space in the hill, 
making the bottom of the excavation level with 
the place that I selected for the front of the house for the 
floor of the basement to be constructed. In this space I 
built a wall of stone and cement, b feet high, for the back 
and both ends of a basement 10 by 14 feet; the front was 
built of boards. 

Over this basement was constructed a frame structure, 
also 10 by 14 feet in size, with posts 9 feet high in front and 
5 feet at the back. The sills and posts used were 3 by 4 
inches in size, and the plates, rafters and joists were 2 by 4 
inches. The building was covered with tongued and grooved 
boards and the roof made water proof by an additional cov- 
ering of tarred paper. 

The floor of the basement is of earth and is used wholly 
as an exercising room; the floor of the house proper is of 

wood. Two feet 
above this floor is 
a platform 5 feet 
wide and as long 
as the house. One 
foot above this are 
the roosts, four in 
number, also ex- 
tending the full 
length of the 
house. Under the 
platform is the run- 
way by which the 
chicks reach the 
basement floor. 
The nests are 
placed at the front, 18 inches from the floor and directly 
under the window-sills, as indicated on the illustration. 

The upper and lower floors are each lighted by three 




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5I-SECTION SHOWING POSITION OF ROOSTS 
AND NESTS. AND MANNER OF OPENING 
WINDOWS IN POULTRY HOUSE. DE- 
SIGNED BY FRANK S. HORNER 



50-PLAN OF HOUSE FOR EIGHTY FOWLS 

windows, containing six lights of glass each. The sash in 
the upper apartment should be arranged to slide to one side 
to ventilate the house. Those in front of the lower room do 
not slide, but the upper 3 feet of the front is hinged at the 
top, to swing up, so that the room may be converted into 
what is equivalent to an open shed. 

The upper floor is reached from without by means of a 
flight of steps at one end and at the opposite end another 
flight leads down to the basement floor. 

Nearly all the work of caring for the fowls is done on the 
upper floor, but when whole or cracked grain is fed dry it is 
buried in a deep litter of straw, hay, or leaves on the ground 
floor. There the fowls work busily for hours scratching it 
nut and obtain needed exercise during cold weather when 
they cannot be out of doors. 

The house may be built any length desired. 

The land must be dry and well drained, or the basement 
will be damp, but where conditions are right this house is 
coivvenient for the attendant and comfortable for the fowls. 
The advantages of two-story poultry houses are many and 
what few disadvantages they have are by no means serious. 
They are not expensive to build. 



A SIMPLE PRACTICAL HOUSE 

A Satisfadory Poultry House, Without Sheds, That 

is Not Expensive to Build — The Interior 

Equipment and the Fencing 

Frank S. Horner 

THIS house is not expensive to build and is convenient 
and serviceable. It is a closed house, without scratch- 
ing sheds but plenty of fresh air can be admitted by 
opening the windows. 
It can be built to any length and width desired, but 12 
feet is about the best width. A building 12 feet wide should 
be 4 feet high at the back and 7 or 8 feet high at the front. 
The frame can be constructed of 2 by 4 scantling and the 
building covered with tongued and grooved barn boards. 

To make it warm, and at the same time water proof, the 
structure can be covered with some kind of roofing fabric, 
or be shingled on the roof and clapboarded on the sides and 
ends. 

The house should rest on a stone foundation, standing a 
foot above the ground and filled with dirt, or sand, level 
with the top of the sills. This will make a dry, warm floor. 
If a stone foundation seems too expensive, the house can be 
built upon posts, to which planks are spiked to fill the space 
between the sills and the ground. The space enclosed may 
be filled in as suggested for the stone foundation. If the 
house is 12 feet wide, it should be divided into pens 10 feet 



33 



POULTRY HOUSES AND FIXTURES 



^^/)' 



long. The partitions between the 
pens are of boards for the first 2 feet 
above the floor and the remaining 
space to the roof is filled with wire 
netting except that part that comes 
between the roosts, which is boarded 
tight to prevent fowls standing on 
the roosts or roost platforms and 
fighting through. In each partition 
is a door 2 feet wide hinged to an 
upright in the frame of the house 
with double acting hinges so that it 
will swing both ways. These doors 
are made solid as high as the bards 
in the partition. 

Each pen has a roost platform 
30 inches wide and as long as the 
pen, placed 2 feet above the sill, 
against the back wall of the house. 

Eight inches above each plat- 
form are two roosts, resting upon 
supports from which they can be 
easily removed, to be out of the way 
when the platforms are cleaned. 

The nests are on platforms 1 foot 
below the roost platforms and are 
entered from the rear. The space 

occupied by the nests and the approach is enclosed by a 
partition 'dropped from near the front edge of the roost 
platform to the floor, with an opening at one end through 
which the hens pass when going to the nests. A board near 
the top of this partition is hung on hinges to make a door 
through which the eggs are collected and the nests cared for. 

The house is lighted by a two-sash window in the mid- 
dle of the front side of each pen. The top sash is hinged to 
the lower one so that it can swing in, opening at the top, to 
admit fresh air without permitting a draft to blow directly 
on the fowls when on the floor or when on the roosts. The 
windows may be arranged to slide to one side if preferred. 

The troughs in which the mash is fed are hung on the 
partitions (position shown in cut) and the boxes for grit, 
shells and charcoal and the water dishes are attached to the 
partitions on the opposite side of the pens. 




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52-PLAN SHOWING LOCATION OF INTERIOR FIXTURES AND ARRANGEMENT OF YARDS 
FOR POULTRY HOUSE DESIGNED BY FRANK S. HORNER 



The yards are at the back of the house, their width cor- 
responding to the length of the pens inside. The first 10 
feet of each fence (next the house) is constructed as a gate 
and can be opened so that a team may be driven to plow the 
yards. 

By having the gates 10 feet wide, plenty of room is pro- 
vided through which to drive a pair of horses drawing plow 
or harrow to work in the yards or attached to a wagon or 
sled to supply or to take away material used in the houses. 

It is not convenient to carry fresh scratching material 
through a long line of pens occupied by fowls nor to remove 
any considerable amount of the same material when it is no 
longer useful. It is more convenient to load it into wagons 
through a window or door. 

This is a simple, practical house that should be very sat- 
isfactory on large or small plants. 



Continuous^ Jiroobing anb Having J|ou£(e 

Durably Con^ruded and Planned for Many or Few Breeding or Brooding Pens^Economy of Labor a 
Consideration — Liberal Floor Spaces, and Provision for Fresh Air, With Ample Protedion from Cold 



Jacob Abdenholder 



I HAVE designed this poultry house with one object, that 
of poultry" for profit. It is only after several years of 
experience that I have attempted this and it is a result 
of hard study, both by day and by night. Any one 
familiar with plans will at once see that the house is not the 
cheapest Affair that can be built, but will acknowledge that 
it is to a great extent, labor-saving. 

I have made this house to accommodate laying hens in 

some of the pens and brooders in the others. The broodej 

pens should be next to the attendant's house so that the hot 

water which heats them would not have to travel so far. 

The laying hens' pens can extend to the other end of the 



house. Of course it can be used for either or both purposes 
named. 

A concrete or brick foundation will last a lifetime, with- 
out the usual repairs which are necessary in the temporary 
buildings that are generally erected. It will also be rat proof 
and will not rust like wire netting, which is sometimes sunk 
into the ground as a protection against rats. Wooden floors 
rot in a short lime. For this reason 1 say if you have the 
means to begin in the poultry business on a reasonable scale, 
put up your buildings right at the beginning and then you 
will have time to attend to the business end, and not be 
fretting about repairs every year. When the poultry houses 



CLOSED FRONT HOUSES 



33 






53-FRONT ELEVATION OF POULTRY HOUSE DESIGNED BY FRANK S. HORNER 



are going to ruin, poultrymen frequently neglect either the 
house or the fowls, because they cannot afford to pay for 
extra help, or do not feel inclined to do so. This entails loss, 
of course. The house may be made of any length, but the 
plans I have sent you represent a house 159 feet long, being 
141 feet of actual poultry house and 15 feet for the end build- 
ing, or attendant's room. The entire width is 24 feet. There 
is an alley on the north side of the building. A trough of 
heavy galvanized iron should run the entire length and if a 



small track for a car be laid in the 
passageway, the food tor any number of 
fowls can be given in a few minutes 
without entering the pens. 

Two feet above the floor and under 
the droppings boards are the nests. 
The eggs can be gathered by pulling 
the nest out like a drawer and putting 
the eggs in a low box which is carried 
upon your car. To clean the droppings 
boards simply open the door which is 
on hinges, and jjcith a scraper pull the droppings into 
the car. To facilitate this, I allow the droppings boards 
to project about 1 inch into the passageway. The 
droppings boards should be hinged in order to swing 
them to a vertical position when a thorough cleaning and 
whitewashing is deemed necessary. A wooden floor is laid 
12 feet wide extending from the passage way towards the 
front. This forms the floor of the house proper. In the 
brooder pens wooden partitions with large lights are placed 




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54 -CONTINUOUS BROODING AND LAYING HOUSE DESIGNED BY JACOB ABDENHOLDER 



34 



POULTRY HOUSES AND FIXTURES 



at the extremity of this floor to separate the house proper 
from the scratching pens, which are in front of them. The 
partitions between the house and the scratching pens for lay- 
ing hens are formed by curtains, which can be raised and 
fastened to the roof. 

The windows should be made to slide in a horizontal di- 
rection, so that a number of them may he attached to a rope 
and opened or shut at the same time. To facilitate their 
movements, it might be well to adjust little rollers to the 
large sashes. Felt strips should be attached to the windows, 
in order to make them draft proof. 

Posts may be used under the partitioi^, but better still, 
brick pillars. 

To insure a warm laying house without artificial heat, I 
suggest a double boarded wall for the outside and matched 
flooring for the inside, thus securing an air space. Between 
the two layers of boards on the outside, tar paper or building 
paper should be used. Matched flooring should be used 
for the ceiling, thereby securing an air space between it and 
the roof. This will prevent sudden changes in temperature 
during cold spells. 

To form brooding pens out of the laying pens, simply 
measure 2 feet 6 inches to 3 feet from the alley for feeding 
space, then from 16 to 18 inches for hovers to cover the hot 
water system. The wooden partitions we have mentioned 
take the place of curtains, but there should be plenty of glass. 

Of course the' hover pipes alone would not be sufficient 
to heat the entire brooder house, so additional sets of pipes 
must be laid, and I suggest that 1 set should be placed in 
the alley, beginning as low as the floor on the lower end, 
■while additional pipes might be put in the partition between 
pens, if necessary, so that each set of partition pipes will heat 
2 pens. These partition pipes, however, may not be neces- 
sary in such a well built house. A trial should be made with 
those in the alley, but the firm which furnishes your furnace 
and pipes will figure out for you readily how much piping 
you will need to heat the place if you give the amount of air 
space in the house and a description of the way it is built 

On the main floor of the attendant's house you may have 
a shop, a shipping and plucking room, office and feed rooms, 
while upstairs there will be 3 nice, large rooms for the atten- 
dant and family, if he has any. In the basement is space 
for a small furnace, coal pit and incubator room, with storage 
room for eggs and vegetables. 

Some readers may consider this house too wide, but it is 
not. I design it to hold 50 fowls per pen. 

To gain access to the outside runs, doors may be made 
in .every third or fourth pen. With 50 fowls to the pen, I 
suggest that the runs be 300 feet long, well planted with trees. 
I do not favor extensive range for fowls that are kept for 
profit. We must always have one point in view, and that is to 
save time. If the yards are properly constructed there will 
be no worrying as to where the fowls are. Under the condi- 
tions I suggest, 1 man could attend to 5,000 fowls, while if 
the place is in poor shape and poorly laid out, 200 fowls 
might be too much for him. If you want to go into the 
poultry business for profit, your motto should be, "profit in 
everything." 

As it requires 26 foot rafters for this building, it might 
be made 10 or 12 inches wider than I have designated. I 
hope my plans will not be denounced for making the build- 
ing too wide, for I have seen in managing poultry plants that 
it takes considerable space to accommodate 50 to 60 fowls in 
a pen. I have had as many as 70 fowls in pens about 16 by 
13 feet, and tell you in bad weather I always felt sorry for 
them. 

To water your fowls, the best plan and the cheapest, so 
far as labor is concerned, is to have a tank if a windmill is 



at hand, or even if you have to pump the water yourself. 
Place it a few feet above the ground and from that run a pipe 
system into the poultry house where you can put up a foun- 
tain in every second partition. There should be drainage 
from each fountain to a waste pipe, then you can let the 
water run slowly all day and so keep it fresh, but it should 
be shut off at night. 

Bill of Material 

The following is a bill of material required for the poul- 
try building, the attandant's room to be figured separately. 
It will be well to paint the building and it will then last a 
lifetime and there is no time lost for repair. 

Foundation 

Concrete or brick. 

Walls, if 2 feet deep and 9 inches wide, 504 cubic feet. 

Walls, if 2 feet 6 inches deep and 9 inches wide, 630 
cubic feet. 

Walls, if 2 feet deep and 12 inches wide, 672 cubic feet. 

Walls, if 2 feet 6 inches deep and 12 inches wide, 840 
cubic feet. 

23 piers 12 by 12 inches by 2 feet 6 inches deep, 57^ 
cubic feet. 

Posts 6 by 6, 4 feet long, could be substituted for piers, 
though less durable. 

Exterior 

Sills, 40 pieces 2x6-12 feet long. 

Joists, 49 pieces" 2x6-12 feet, 3 feet on centers. 

Plates, 28 pieces 2x6-12 feet. 

Rafters, 49 pieces 2x6-26 feet. 

.Studs, 3 feet centers. 

North side, 49 pieces 2x6, 6 feet 8 inches. 

South side, 37 pieces 2x6, 8 feet 5 inches. 

South side, 12 pieces 2x6, 4 feet over and under win- 
dows. 
East and west sides, 16 pieces 2x6 average 7 feet 6 inches. 
For these it will require: 

37 pieces 2x6-16 feet long, cutting one stud for both 
north and south sides out of one of these pieces. 

8 pieces 2x6-16 feet long, for east and west ends. 

3 pieces 2x6-16 feet long under and over windows. 
12 pieces 2x6-14 feet long for balance of north side. 
2,400 feet 1-inch rough boards 12 feet long for siding. 

,400 feet drop siding or weather boards. 
2,400 feet of matched flooring for inside of studs. 
3,500 feet of matched flooring for ceiling 
1,650 feet matched flooring for hall and roosting room. 
3,800 feet sheathing for roof. 
3,800 feet tarred roofing paper. 
146 feet 6 inches gutter with hangers. 

4 pieces 4 inch down spout 6 feet long. 

12 double windows, sash 4 light, 14x10, 2 inch stud to 
form muUion, opening 70x48 inches, for south side. 

6 windows, 2 light, 14x14, opening 34x20, for north side. 

Interior 

Hall partition and laying compartment; 

6 pieces 2x4-12 feet long below slats. 

6 pieces 2x4-12 feet long above slats, below drop boards. 

300 pieces X inch round- slats for feed rack, 21 inches 



long. 



12 pieces lx.3-10 feet long above and below nest doors. 

6 pieces 1x6-10 feet long nest doors. 

12 pieces 1x12-10 feet long drop board doors. 

6 pieces 1x3-10 feet long top nailing pieces for netting. 



CLOSED FRONT HOUSES 



35 



6 pieces 1x3-18 feet long framing for netting doors. 
18 pieces 2x4-7 feet 5 inclies, studs. 
72 feet 18 inch wire top of partition. 
36 feet 24 inch wire for doors. 
Brooder compartment; 

6 pieces 1x3-18 feet long frames for netting doors. 
12 pieces 1x3-12 feet long top and bottom nailing pieces 
for netting. 

18 pieces 2x4-7 feet 5 inches long for studs. 

72 feet 10 inch galvanized iron gutter for feed troughs. 

90 feet 48 inch wire for partitions, 1 inch mesh. 

72 feet 24 inch wire for doors, 1 inch mesh. 

Partition between roosting room and scratching shed. 

Laying Compartment 

6 pieces 1x10, bottom. 
12 pieces 1x12, boards under netting. 
12 pieces 1x3, 12 feet long, frames for netting tops and 
bottom. 

12 pieces 1x3-5 feet long, for frames for netting, ends. 

72 feet 60 inch netting, or cloth. 

36 feet 24 inch netting, or cloth, for doors. 

Brooding Compartment 

12 windows, 4x3 feet. 

350 feet matched boards for tight partition, doors to be 
made of and included in this. 

23 pieces 4x4-7 feet 5 inch posts. 
12 pieces 4x4-12 feet long plates. 

Droppings Boards 

270 feet matched flooring, 10 feet long. 
6 pieces 2x4-10 feet long center supports. 
18 pieces 2x2-10 feet long roosting poles. 
18 pieces %xl inch 1x5 feet iron to support roosting 
poles, as shown in drawing. 

Neft Boxes 

120 feet matched flooring, 10 feet long for bottom. 

6 pieces 1x6, 10 feet long end pieces. 

6 pieces 1x4, 10 feet long center pieces. 

10 pieces lx'4, 6 feet long legs under nest platform. 

Cross Partitions 

51 pieces 1x10, 8 feet long under netting roosting room. 
51 pieces 1x10, 12 feet long under netting scratching 
sheds. 

210 feet 60 inch netting in scratching shed. 

130 feet 48 inch netting in roosting room. 

18 pairs of hinges for nest box and drop board doors. 



18 pairs hinges for partition doors. 

1 pair hinges for exterior door. 

12 pairs hinges for brooding house partition windows. 

12 pairs hinges for small exits between roosting room and 
scratching shed. 

12 pulleys and cord for raising windows in brooding 
house partition. 

Note. — Building could be 9 feet on south side and 7 feet 
on north side with slight additional expense, since 16 foot 
stuff must be used for both dimension lumber and boards. 
Extra cost would be only for added siding on exterior of 
building, and wire netting partitions inside. 

Architetfl's Comment 

For one having the means and desiring to erect a large 
poultry house containing all conveniences, this is the build- 
ing to erect. The designer of same has evidently given, as 
he says, considerable time to the study of the wants of at- 
tendant and fowl. It can be built any desired length and 
retain all the advantages shown, whether containing 5 or 50 
pens. All the attendant's work is done from the passageway. 
He need never enter the pens except for cleaning the 
floors, replacing litter and gaining access to the fowls. 

With a car on the track suggested for long buildings, one 
man could attend to a great number of fowls with very little 
labor and so reduce expenses considerably. 

Construction as recommended is first-class. A building 
erected according to these specifications w-ill last a lifetime 
if reasonable care is taken of it. 

The principal advantages of this plan are: The passage- 
way, containing feed troughs, nest drawers, and doors for 
cleaning droppings boards, the partitions between the roost- 
ing rooms and scratching sheds containing sash, or muslin 
covered frames hinged on top, to be raised during warm 
weather and lowered when cold or stormy; the windows in 
the south front being connected by a rope, allowing them to 
be closed simultaneously from one point, in the work room; 
the work shop, shipping room, office and dwelling at end of 
poultry house, giving attendant opportunity for doing all 
work, cooking food, etc., without leaving the building, and 
in case of a very long house, locating it in the middle; the 
foundation of concrete would last practically without repairs, 
and would be rat proof; the general construction of the build- 
ing having air space between all walls and between ceiling 
and roof and gives a very warm, well built house. 

While this would be an expensive building, considering 
first cost, it would be durable and possibly as cheap in the 
end as any; and considering durability, annual expense ac- 
count and convenience, the sa%'ing would equal interest on 
the investment. 











tratcfting ^fjeb ftousiesi 




l^fje ^cratcljing ^fjeb $oultrp J|ouSe 

After Years of Pradical Experience with Open and Closed Poultry Houses, Mr. Hunter Tells Why the 
Continuous Curtained Shed Poultry House is the Best, and Furnishes Detailed 
In^rudions that will Enable Even a Novice to Build it 



A. F. Hunter 



"A" 



RE hens pampered too much?" asks a writer, and 
then he goes on to discuss a low cost poultry 
house, which is covered with a single thickness 
of boards only. There are grave objections to a 
house constructed like that, a most important one being that 
the board walls will open up cracks in one season's exposure 
to sun and rain, and then there would be the pernicious 
drafts and currents of air that must be avoided. The writer 
says: "The great fault with most poultry houses is lack of 
thorough ventilation. The moisture excreted from 20 to 25 
fowls every 24 hours is a heavy drain upon the ventilating 
resources of most houses, and it is the keynote to the failure 
of nearly all of them." And the editorial comment upon the 
same article is: "Oneof the surest preventives of dampness — 
moisture in a poultry house — is perfect ventilation. Many 
poultrymen have requested information upon the question of 
damp houses, and have been advised to ventilate by fre- 
quent opening of doors and windows." In a certain sense 
the house plan mentioned is like the curtained front house 
plan of the Maine Station poultry house; one difference being 
that be rolls up his curtain hung in front of roost platform. 
We believe the swinging curtain tacked to a simple frame is 
superior to having the curtain rolled. Experience with cur- 
tains has demonstrated that. 

On the two following pages we give plans for a contin- 
uous poultry house with alternating pens and sheds, the 
sheds having curtained fronts and all the space within the 
house being utilized; many years' study of poultry house 
problems has convinced us that this alternating shed and 
pen plan is the best— all things considered. No house plan 
is perfect; we have to balance advantages against disadvan- 
tages and should choose the plan which combines the great- 
est number of advantages with fewest disadvantages, and 
so firmly are we convinced of the general excellences of this 
pen and shed plan that if we were erecting a poultry plant 



for 200 or 300, or 2,000 or 3,000 head of fowls this is the plan 
we would use. Many modifications and adaptations of this 
plan have been made since we first published it, and quite a 
few improvements have been suggested by observation and 
experience, and the net result of these modifications and im- 
provements is given in these pages. Each combined pen 
and shed is 18 by 10 feet, the curtained front shed being 
10 by lO and the closed roosting pen being 8 by 10, room 
sufficient for 25 fowls of the American or 30 of the Mediter- 
ranean varieties; no walk is required because the walk is 
through gates and doors, from shed to pen and pen to shed, 
and so on to the end of the house, and out the other end. 
We have seen this plan with a roosting pen at the end, 
then 2 sheds and 2 pens, etc. Don't do that! By bringing 
the closed roosting pens together in pairs they contribute to 
warm each other, and eyery pen has the protection of the 
shed beyond; the end department should be a shed always. 
The ventilation (so much desired) is very varied, and can he 
adapted to the different seasons in half a dozen different 
ways. In summer the doors and windows are all wide open 
and the curtains all hooked up against the roof out of the 
way. (It is understood that the doors between 2 pens are 
never left open, they are always kept closed except when 
opened for the attendant to pass through from one pen to 
another.) When the nights begin to be real frosty in the fall 
close the windows in front of pens, but leave shed curtains 
hooked up and doors between sheds and pens open. When 
it begins to freeze nights close the curtains in fronts of sheds, 
but still leave doors between pens and sheds open. These 
doors (including slide door A) are never closed excepting on 
nights of solid cold, say 5 to 20 degrees above zero; and for 
zero nights (5 degrees above to away below), close the 
curtains in front of roosts and all doors and windows are 
closed. An additional protection against cold in extremely 
cold latitudes would be to double wall the roost pen from 



SCRATCHING SHED HOUSES 



37 



the sill up to plate and then up the roof 4 feet, packing 
the spaces with straw or swale hay, then have a hinged cur- 
tain to drop down to withm 6 inches of front of roost plat- 
form and going 1 foot below it; this curtain we would close 
only on the most severe nights. 

Con^ucSion 

Sills and plates are all of 2 by 4 scantling, halved and 
nailed together at joints. The rafters, the corner studs and 
studs at center of fronts of sheds are all 2 by 4; the intermed- 
iate studs are 2 by 3. Set the sills on stone foundation or on 
posts set into the ground below the usual frost line, the 
posts being set 5 feet apart excepting in front of pens, 
where they would come 4 feet apart, there being a post at 
corners of each pen and shed and one between; the rafters 
should be 2 feet apart. The sills we would set 1 foot above 
average ground level, put 1 foot wide hemlock (or some 
hardwood) board from bottom half of sill down to ground. 



and best. Some of the good ones are Ruberoid, Paroid, 
Flintkote, Swan's Felt, Neponset Red Rope, etc. These 
roofings come in rolls with nails and tin-heads inside each 
roll, or with cement, etc., where such is used; the prices at 
which they are sold cover everything of that kind. As a 
general rule these roofings should be applied lengthwise of 
roofs and walls, and where doors and windows are set in 
walls bring the covering material out over top of door or 
window frames. A 12 light window of 8 by 10 glass is set in 
front of each pen, and all doors and gates are 2 feet 6 in- 
ches wide by 6 feet high. Have plenty of hooks and screw 
eyes to secure doors and gates back against the walls and 
curtains up against the roofs; each large curtain in front of 
shed needs 2 hooks and screw eyes, 1 at each lower corner, to 
prevent it twisting. All windows should be protected by 
having 2-inch mesh wire netting tacked to inside of frame, 
to keep fowls from dashing against it if startled and keep 
rodents out when window is left open at night. To keep 
the fowls enclosed when curtains are raised cover the front 




Curtain EC 'Front 
Scratching Shed 

lO X JO 



11 I I 11 



E ii 



OS 



Roosting Room 
a 'i lO 



II II I r 






C) 



55-MR. HUNTER'S SCRATCHING SHED POULTRY HOUSE: A- -FOWL ENTRANCE, B- WATER PANS, C-FEED TROUGHS. E-ROOSTS 



nailing it securely to sill and foundation posts, then fill up 
inside to bottom of sills and slope up the ground outside to 
same height. Toe-nail studs to sills, firmly, also plates to 
studs, and rafters to plates. Make front studs 7 feet (or at 
least 6 feet 6 inches) in the clear and back studs 5 feet (or 
4 feet 6 inches) in the clear; of course studs in front of pens 
will be set at right space to take window frames or the win- 
dow sash if no frames are used, and in partitions the studs 
will be set to take the 2 feet 6 inches wide doors. All of this 
framing is as simple as can be, and any man who can saw a 
board or joist reasonably square and drive nails can build 
such a house; the slight bevel at each end of rafters is prac- 
tically quite as simple. All boarding is lengtiiwise, the 
boards being firmly nailed, and close joints made every- 
where. Cover the boarding, both roof and walls, with a 
good sheathing paper (or sheathing quilt) and then put 
on the outside covering of some good roofing material. Of 
this there are several kinds and in selecting a roofing material 
keep in mind the fact that it is a physical impossibility for a 
cheap article to be as good and as durable as those costing 
more; avoid the material that it is claimed is cheapest 



of shed with wire netting, having one section of it made a 
gate to open and let the birds out into yards; this large gate 
we found very convenient when we wanted to bring in coops 
of birds from the wheelbarrow (pullets brought in from 
coops in the fields) , or if cooping up a number of birds to 
send away. The frames for the curtains were made of good, 
sound 1 by 3 inch furring, halved and securely nailed at cor- 
ners, and by brace set diagonally across back of frame to 
firm it. Care must be taken that gates between sheds do 
not come in conflict with these curtains when they are 
hooked up; as they are left up 7 or 8 months in the year and 
only down nights and stormy days 4 or 5 months, a little 
pains must be taken to have the gates swing clear. The 
doors from sheds to pens swing into the pens and are, of 
course, out of the way of the curtains. Some poultrymen 
have found a difficulty in getting oiled muslin for these cur- 
tains, but most seedsmen in the United States keep it for 
sale, it being the same as used by gardeners for covering 
cold frames. In talking of this with Prof. Robertson, -Cana- 
dian Commissioner of Agriculture, he said he had never 
heard of such oiled muslin being used in Canada, and inquiry 



38 



POULTRY HOUSES AND FIXTURES 



St the two leading seed stores in Ottawa disclosed that they 
did not keep it. Another point to be considered is carrying 
off the drip from these curtains in case of a driving rain from 
the south. As there is usually (in winter) 6 inches of 
scratching material in the sheds the curtains should not come 
down to the sills, and a board 8 or 10 inches wide should be 
set slightly slanting in from the sill to just inside the bottom 
of the curtain frame, and that drip board secures the 
scratching material within the shed and conveys the drip 
outside the sill. One poultryraan of my acquaintance has a 
section of board 10 inches wide and between two studs at 
back of scratching shed so arranged that he can slip it out 
and shovel the sand out (and in) there at annual house 
cleaning time; this he finds a decided convenience, as he can 
set his cart just beneath it and shovel directly into the cart 
through that opening. The roost platform should be 3 feet 



to wall at back 8 inches above platform and terminate 
with legs 8 inches long leading to platform; the roofs are 
swung up and hooked against the wall for cleaning off 
droppings. 

A correspondent writes as follows: "Having compared 
the two styles, I find that better health, greater egg produc- 
tion and better fertility are the results where the fowls are 
kept in the open scratching shed house. The advantages we 
gain in such a house are that the roosting room can be much 
smaller than it could be if the scratching and roosting 
rooms were combined. Being so small, the natural heat 
from the fowls keeps it warm and there is no necessity for 
artificial heat. 

"Then the hen loves freedom which allows her to move 
around at will and work as she pleases. In a small closed 
pen she soon gets tired, squats down in some corner, be- 





Jr=^ 



No. I 



No. 2 
Ends of Rafters 



Partition between Pens 



Partition betweenSheds^ 





Back of Roosting Room 



■^ ^^ ^\ Front of Scratching Shed f/l°ro^L?':?/T^r,'.''^f ^'^"'^ 

ONE HOOKED UP TO ROOF 



Nest BoxEd. entrance in rear 





Feed Trough 

56-DETAILS OF CONSTRUCTION AND INTERIOR FIXTURES OF MR. HUNTER'S HOUSE 



wide and the full length of roosting pen, excepting that it 
should be short enough to lift out easily for house 
cleaning; strong cleats should be nailed to each end wall to 
support it and the platform should be 2 feet above sill level. 
Make the platform of matched boards, secured by 2 cleats 
across bottom. An "edge" of 2X inches wide furring is a 
decided improvement, keeping the droppings enclosed; for 
convenience a space 12 inches in length can be cut out of 
middle of front edge, through which to scrape the droppings. 
The two roosts are. made of 2 by 3 scantlings, slightly rounded 
on top, and cut 8 inches shorter than platform so ends of 
roosts come 4 inches within the platform . Set roosts H 
inches apart, which will bring them 8 inches within the 
platform back and front. Two cross arms are hinged 



comes fat and lazy, loses her appetite and is only an ex- 
pense to her owner till nature forces her to lay. In an open 
scratching shed she can work in the oi^en air going in and 
out as she pleases, and she is always ready to eat or work ; 
therefore she is strong and healthy, her egg yield is large and 
the eggs are strongly fertile." 

Doesn't that fully cover the ground? What do we keep 
fowls for that is not grouped in that intelligently expressed 
argument in favor of the scratching shed house? Better 
health, -better egg yield, fowls busier and (hence) happier; 
it is all comprised in these words. Some people have been 
frightened at the term "open front," and I have substituted 
"curtained front" in this article, and those words are mor& 
accurate in describing the type of house. 



$ouItrp Jlousie anb ^cratcljing ^Ijeb 

An Original Plan by Which it is Proposed to Retain the Advantages of Modern Scratching Sheds and 
Roo^ng Rooms, while Improving Them With Respeds to Economy, Sunlight 

and Protedion from Wind 



Henry P. J. Earashaw 



WHEN scratching shed houses first carue into use a 
number of years ago they were generally ac- 
cepted as all that could be desired in the way of 
a perfect house for a northern climate. Like all 
other things, the longer they were in use the more their dis- 
advantages became apparent. In recent years a number of 
changes have been made in the original plan with the idea of 
perfecting it. 

That scratching sheds in this climate are highly desirable 
is evidenced by the number of houses of various patterns 
that possess this addition. 

The writer has visited many plants in various parts of 
the country, and having discussed with proprietors the faults 
generally found in these houses, the matter has been care- 
fully considered with the idea of perfecting a plan, and the 
outcome of the attempt is here given. I have settled upon 
tbeee plans as having more advantages and fewer faults than 
any of the various modifications of the scratching shed house 
that have come to my notice. 

The objections most frequently raised are: Cost of con- 
struction, time wasted in taking care of the flocks, havoc 
created in the scratching shed by the wind, and the time re- 
quired in removing snow on certain days in winter. By using 



from drafts. During very cold weather a curtain of burlap 
can be hung from the ceiling to a level with the droppings 
board. This will retain the heat and yet give all the ventila- 
tion necessary. In such case the fowls are protected by their 
own warmth from the outside temperature and do not warm 
up any more space than is absolutely necessary, and as soon 
as it is light they make their way to the front of the roosting 
room and get such exercise as they desire until the attendant 
comes and feeds them and opens the door. 

After a long cold night it is desirable to get the first 
morning sun. For this reason the windows are arranged 
respectively on the extreme east and west ends of adjoining 
roosting rooms and one between the two rooms, giving light 
to both. By this arrangement the sun, as soon as it rises, 
throws its light on almost one-fourth of the floor space of 
both roosting rooms. The late afternoon sun does the same. 
It increases the sun in the house one-half hour in the 
morning and one-half hour in the afternoon, or an hour in 
a'U, which makes a great difference on a cold winter day. 
During the shortest day in winter every part of the house 
catches the sun at some time during the day. 

Windows in roosting room should be opened on all sunny 
davs as soon as the sun is well up and closed 2 or 3 hours 



1 

' Scrntching^hed 


■H..S1! 




Scratching Shed |"' 

, /Z fl. —, 

5 -•• 








1 




■«..sts 














- bfl. ^ 

Ro05*in3 


1- bfl — 

Roosting 


1 





V 



^ \. 



7 



57-SHOWlNG GROUND PLAN OF DAMP PROOF ROOSTING ROOMS AND SCRATCHING SHEDS 



curtains this latter trouble has been overcome; but a curtain 
shuts out the sun, which of course is a great disadvantage. 
By adopting a sloping roof in front, strong drafts and wind 
in the scratching shed are overcome. In my plan the dis- 
tance from floor to peak is 7 feet 6 inches. The opening in 
front of scratching shed is 4 feet 9 inches. As the wind ap- 
proaches this opening the air already in the shed forms a 
cushion strengthened by the resistance of the sloping front 
roof and the front boarding along the bottom. This prevents 
the entrance of strong guests of wind. It was suggested to 
me some time ago while driving in a Goddard buggy against 
a very stiff wind. The smoke from my cigar remained \vith- 
in the hood, or top, with very little motion until it worked 
outside, when it went away with a rush. 

As to cost. All that is necessary in a house for grown 
fowls is protection from the wind, rain and snow in the day 
time, and a warm roosting room at night. 

The roosting room (or that part of it that contains the 
roosts) is the only part of the house which necessarily should 
be snugly and well constructed. This should be double 
boarded and lined with waterproof felt both inside and out- 
side. As the roosts are placed at the rear of the house, they 
are away from doors and windows and are therefore free 



before it goes down. 

The minor details of the house can be arranged in any 
way that is agreeable to the user. If it is desirable to have 
an enclosed scratching shed it will be best to increase the 
height of the house to 8 feet at peak and 6 feet 6 inches at 
the front. This enables one to fold the front shutters back 
to the roof, which is so high that they will not interfere with 
the swinging of the doors. I do not consider it advisable to 
alter the height of the back wall unless the attendant is more 
than the average height, in which case it might be incon- 
venient to do the work. 

The house should be built on ground with sufficient slope 
to carry away surface water. Face it a little to the east of 
south. If it faces this way you will get the greatest possible 
amount of sun and will not catch raking winds from either 
the east or the west. House should be situated on naturally 
dry land. 

Exterior Con^udtion 

For the foundation place flat stones under the sills in 
place of posts, or posts can be sunk in the ground and cut off 
8 inches above the surface. If posts are used they should be 
at least 6 inches in diameter. By stripping off the bark and 



40 



POULTRY HOUSES AND FIXTURES 



charring the part to be placed in the ground, or by covering 
it with a heavy coating of tar, the life of a post can be great- 
ly prolonged. 

The frame should consist of not less than 3 by 4 inch 
studding, and where there is liability of heavy snow storms 
it is as well to use 2 by 6 inch stuff for the rooting timbers, 
as this will not sag. Be careful to use sound timbers where 
there is much strain, such as on plates on front of scratching 
shed, using knotty pieces for uprights in framing back wall. 

Use any kind of boards for the walls, provided they are 
of an even thickness, for covering in, with the exception of 
the back part of the roosting room. This boarding should 
be of matched stuff and should be laid as close together as 
possible. 

There is a variety of roofings to choose from, and as they 
all have merit, and none of them are perfect, I will discuss 
them in a general way and let you make your own selection. 

Iron rooting is usually too expensive for this use and is 
really not suitable for the purpose, as it is very cold in win- 
ter and draws the heat in summer. If it is used it should 
be painted on the under side with a good iron oxide paint 
before laying and shouJd be coated at least once every 2 
years on the weather side with similar material. With the 
best of care it will not be permanent, but will rust from 
underneath. 

Shingles make a very good and permanent roof and re- 
quire little care until they begin to wear, when it is best to 
tear them off and replace with new ones. If shingles are to 
be used, it is well to lay resin sized building paper under 
them to keep the wind out. Never paint shingles on a roof 
after they are laid, as it shortens their life. The moisture 
works down between the cracks and under the shingles and 
if painted it remains there for a long time drying out slowly, 
■with the result that they decay quickly. If a shingle is to be 
painted or stained the best way is to dip it before putting it 
on. If this is done, there is no unprotected side for the 
water to soak into. 

Felt roofings are the cheapest usually in first cost, but 
require coating every two or three years. They usually cost 
more in the long run than shingles and are never as satis- 
factory. 

Paper roofings are usually all right, provided they are 
battened down to keep the wind from tearing them and by 
keeping them well painted. Never use a paint on a paper or 
felt roof unless you know its ingredients. Certain chemicals 
are used in roofing paints that do not always work well with 
the chemicals in the paper, so it is well to write the manu- 
f acturer and find out what paint or coating he advises used 




59-SHOWlNG PARTITION BETWEEN ROOSTING ROOMS 
AND POSITION OF ROOSTS 

Where ready roofing is used for covering the sides it ia 
not necessar>' to lay paper under it, but it is well to batten 
it well, being sure to paint under the battens to prevent 
rotting. 

A good way to lay a ready roofing is to continue the sid- 
ing over the eaves. This makes a perfectly tight joint at the 
eaves and prevents any drafts from striking through. 

Interior Con^udion 

Board up the inside of roosting room, the whole width of 
the rear wall, and about 4 feet 6 inches of the partitions, 
with matched stuff, and fit strips of board in at the end of 
boarding and roof, making a tight air space. This is neces- 
sary to keep moisture out of the space and from working in- 
to the boarding. When this is done line the interior of the 
roosting compartment with a water proof felt or paper, be- 
ing careful to make all joints tight. This is the most im- 
portant part of all in making it frost proof. It is necessary 
to keep this water proof as well as the roof, for reasons stated 
below. If an extra warm house is wanted it is well to use 
Cabot's sheating quilt under the water proof lining of this 
roosting compartment. This is the best cheap non-conductor 
that I know of. Do not fill the air space with anj-thing that 
will be a harbor for rats. Sawdust, if it is absolnteiy dry, is 
all right, but if it is damp it will rot out the boarding. There 
is nothing that I know of suitable for this purpose that can 
be had at a price that would warrant its use. 

The curtain for use in front of fowls can be made of bur- 
lap tacked onto two strips of board or anything handy. One 
by one inch is large enough. When the curtain is put up in 
the fall simply put a nail in either end and drive it into the 



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58-SHOWlNG FRONT ELEVATION. PART OF WHICH IS SHOWN CO MPLETE. THE REMAINDER SHOWING MODE OF FRAMING 



on his particular roof. All ready roofings, like incubators, 
should be used according to instructions. The manufactur- 
ers know more about them than you do. Many a roofing has 
been abused because some paint or coating had been used on 
it that rotted it out. In laying shingles it is not advisable to 
use wire nails, as they do not last, but rust off. Neither 
sh ould tarred paper be laid under shingles, as it rusts the 
nails and shingles fall off. 

Whatever roofing you use it is well to lay a layer of resin 
si zed sheeting under it so that the expansion and contrac- 
ion of the boards will not wear directiv on the roofing sel 



ceiling half way. It will then be an easy matter to remove 
n the spring to be stored for further use. The strip on the 
bottom will make it hang flat. A string can be tied through 
the center of this bottom strip to attach to the under side of 
roof with which to raise it out of the way in the day time. 

Windows are intended to be hung the same as those in 
general use on street cars. That is, lifting slightly, pulling 

Note.— The Ictlera of llluitntions 61 nod GS show; A — Wlndov lilt B — Strip o&ilcd os sill to prvtoat 
sssh E from slli'ping ofT. soj to hold sash tlgbt to outside wall. C— DIock nsiltd on studdio; on (sch sido 
of wiodoa to bold top of sa.li F fhen id I'lacr. M — Spa.'C l.eIow sill iaio m bicb sash irny* wbro 0[«d 
E — Sasb. F— Sasb- G — So.ea.eigbis inch strip Bailed to inside of atuddios. sad ]>roje<liDg o»er the edga 
fortDio; a gulJe fur sash wbea opinio; and L-losiDS wladow. II — O.itside botir.g prqjecttitg tbree-fourtbs 
inch o. er rije of studding lo bold sasb In when » iodow is closed. 



SCRATCHING SHED HOUSES 



41 





h 




(V-AO 



60-SHOWlNG SOUD PARTITION BETWEEN ROOSTING 
ROOM AND SCRATCHING SHED 

towards you and sliding down. If the front of house is made 
6 feet 6 inches high, they can be hinged at the top and swung 
to the roof, so as not to interfere with the doors. In this 
case the middle window will have to be permanent. 

By leaving a space for water vessels in the solid part of 
the partition between the roosting rooms one water vessel 
■will serve for two flocks. 

The reason for lining roosting compartments with water 
proof paper is to prevent condensation on the boards. There 
is probably nothing in connection with a poultry house that 
has bothered poultrymen to the extent that dripping walls 
and ceilings have, and at the same time there is nothing so 
little understood. I will try to give the cause in as few words 
as possible and you will readily see how it can be prevented: 
All air contains moisture. The warmer the air the more 
moisture it can hold. Mois- 
ture is a good conductor of 
cold. The moisture con- 
tained in the fowl's breath 
is absorbed by the air in 
the room. This air is' in 
constant circulation, caused 
by the different temperature 
within the room and the air 
leaking in from the outside. 
As the fowls keep on breath- 
ing the air becomes more 
charged with moisture . 
Now this air coming in con- 
tact with the colder surfaces 
condenses, leaving its mois- 
ture. If this surface is not 
water-proof, the moisture 
will penetrate and, being a 
good conductor of cold, 
will allow the cold to pene- 
trate the walls much more 
quickly than when dry. 
The minimum temperature 
at which air contains the 
■ greatest amount of moisture 
is called the dew point. As air can contain 
more moisture at a high temperature than 
at low, it will be seen that the dew point 



B 



^ 



61-WINDOW 
"WITH SASH 
PLACE 



IN 



62-WINDOW 
WITH SASH IN 

THE ACT OF 

DROPPING INTO 

SPACE D 

will, be reached 



much sooner on a cold than a warm night and that by 
water-proofing the roosting compartment of the house, should 
the dew point be reached on a few occasions, the moisture 
cannot penetrate the boarding and thus injure the efficiency 
of the partitions. To have my house warm in winter, I 
would prefer to water-proof the inside walls than the outside 
if I could not afford to do both. 



HOUSE FOR SOUTHERN BREEDERS 

A Poultry Building that Can be Opened and 
Closed According to the Weather 

Wm. E. Spencer 

I AM sending you photographs of a tier of my poultry 
houses. I am convinced that they are the cheapest and 
best houses for the south, and the same idea, with 

warmer construction, would undoubtedly prove equally 
satisfactory in the north. 

When the summer is at its height I find that my poultry 
keep comfortable and cool in the houses. Not any of them 
has yet shown a disposition to leave the houses for outside 
roosting places. This indicates pretty accurately that they 
find it quite pleasant. My experience on February 12 last, 
when the temperature went 18 degrees below (the coldest 
by 13 degrees ever known in Arkansas, demonstrated that 
they are comfortable in winter, for not a comb was even as 
much as frosted. 

Such houses are easily built and are no more expensive 
than any other kind. The one shown in the cuts is 32 feet 
long and 8 feet wide, 8 feet high in front and 6 feet in the 
rear. It is divided into a feed room, 6 by 8 feet, two roost- 
ing houses, 8 by 8, and two scratching sheds, 5 by 8. The 
cost to me for material and carpenter's work was between 
$45 and $50, the carpenter charging $10 for his work. The 
photographs will show how the houses are built, so that any 
person with a "mechanical turn of mind" will understand. 

[Southern breeders need a house that is built upon some- 
what different principles to that in use in the north and Mr. 
Spencer appears to have provided the wished-for plan. The 
house as photographed, with its doors open, and the fence 
at the back exposed to view through the open window, gives 
that air>' appearance which is so inviting in hot weather and 
provides a comfortable scratching place free from the sun's 
glare, yet open to the welcome breeze which tempers the 
extreme heat. We believe, however, we would reverse the 
sizes of the roosting rooms and scratching sheds, mak- 
ing the rooms each 5 by 8 and the sheds each 8 by 8 
feet. Most of the fowls will be in the sheds during the day 
and on the roost at night, so that it is in the sheds where the 
most space is needed. The space occupied by roosts and 
nests is comparatively small, and so far as house room goes 
it is unnecessary to provide only for an odd day in the 365 
when the fowls are confined to the house. We have found 3 
square feet per fowl sufficient, where, without the shed, at 
least 6 would be required.— Ed.] 



^cratcijmg ^ijeb Colon;? ^on^t 



A Pradical, Economical House Designed for One Pen of Fowls — Detailed In^rudions Regarding the 

Exterior and Interior Conflrudion, and Materia! Needed 



"For Poultry Keepers on a Small Scale this House is Hard to Beat" 

James M. Stockiag 



THIS house IS set on 6 posts set 3 feet in the ground, one 
at each corner of the house and one midway on each 
side. The post set at the highest corner is sawed off 
square 1 foot from the ground and the other 5 are cut 
to the same level. 

The sills are 4 by 4 and halved together at the corners. 
After the sills are squared and spiked to the posts, measure 
off on the outside of the back sill 3 feet 8 inches from the 
end, and on the front sill 5 feet 8 inches from the samfe end. 
With a straight edge placed at these two points mark where it 
crosses the sills. Then place a 2 by 4 flush with the end and 
outer edge of each sill and square up the outer edges of the 
2 by 4 where they cross the mark on the sills. Place straight 
edges on these marks on the 2 by 4 and mark across the 4 inch 
surfac,e of them. This gives angle and length to cut the cor- 
ner posts. 

Before removing these 2 by 4's from the place where they 
lay for marking, note if they are the 
same width as the sills. If so re- 
move them and lay another 2 by 4 
across the sills in the same position 
as the straight edge was to mark 
them. Then mark across this 2 by 4 
parallel with and fjush with the inside 
of the sills. This gives the angle and 
length to cut the end rafters. 

The posts are set 4 inches side to 
the end and rafter toe-nailed between 
them. The other end is done tlu' 
same way. Then cut two 2 by 4'.< 
each 1.5 feet 8 inches long. These 
are toe-nailed to the corner posts 
and form the front and back plates. 
Then cut a stud the proper length t(i 
reach between the back sill and plate. 
Place this in position, 7 feet from 
the outer edge of the east end to its 
west face; place a stud midway be- 
tw'een this and the east end. This 
should be placed thin way into the 
house so as to be less in the way 

when the droppings board is put in later on. This leaves a 9 
foot space, which should have 2 studs, dividin-g it into 3 
equal spaces. 

Then place a stud on the south side the same distance 
(7 feet) from the east end. Put a rafter between plates at 
this point and a 2 by 4 across between the sills. Run a 2 by 
4 on edge lengthways of the middle of the roof between raft- 
ers and toe-nail it to the rafters. 

The partition is boarded on the scratching shed inside of 
the studding, leaving the house proper 7 feet in the clear. 

Now place a stud on the south side 6 inches from east 
end and another just 24 inches west of it. Then put in a 
2 by 4 10 inches uji from the sill across between these, and 
another 2 by 4 12 inches down from the top. This makes 
the door frame. 



Between door and scratching shed and a proper distance 
apart to admit a sash of ti lights, 8 by 12 inches place 2 studs, 
one each side of the window. So place them as to bring the 
sash in the middle of this space. Then place a 2 by 4 be- 
tween these for the window sill 2 feet from sill, and another 
one over the top of the sash. This makes the window frame. 

Next place a stud 6 inches west of partition and another 
6 inches east from west end of the house. Place a 2 by 
4 between them running parallel with and 10 inches above 
the sill; another running parallel with this 12 inches down 
from the roof. It is now ready for boarding. 

Barn boards are used, or if in a locality where % inch 
box boards can be had they may be used at much less cost 
and with good results. If barn boards are used use 16 foot 
lengths on the back and run them lengthways. On the roof, 
ends, front and partition run them up and down. 

Around the window and door let the boarding project 




63- POULTRY HOUSE FOR SOUTHERN BREEDERS- OPEN 



about ^ inch over the openings. This will make sufhcient 
casing for them. The door may be made of barn boards 
and hinged on the right hand side to swing in. An old- 
fashioned thumb latch is used on it. 

Wire netting is tacked over the front of window. The 
window is opened and held in place by means of a leather 
strap with several holes in it attached to the center of the 
top of the frame, and hooking over a pin in the center of the 
inside of the top of the sash. Ventilation may be regulated 
by lowering the window more or less. 

In the front of the scratching shed and 2 feet from the 
east side of the opening place a 2 by 4 upright. Over the 
space west of this tack wire netting. This 2 foot opening is 
closed by a screen door made of % by 2 inch stuff hinged at 
the left side to swing out, and is fastened with an iron button. 



SCRATCHING SHED HOUSES 



4S 



Make a irame of % by 2 inch stuff large enough to lap 
against the inside of the frame work around the entire open- 
ing of the shed. This is covered with heavy unbleached 
cotton cloth. After this is tacked in place on the outside of 
the frame it is given a thorough coat of linseed oil. This 
makes it durable and waterproof. 

The frame is then hinged to the inside of the top of the 
opening, and is opened and shut by means of a cord at- 
tached to the center of the button of the curtain frame. 
From here it runs through a pulley in the back plate, then 
through a hole in the front of shed over the center of the 
frame. In the outer end of this rope a loop is made. This 
is drawn along the front of the building a sufficient distance 
to raise the curtain and is then hooked over a pin to hold 
the curtain up. A hook and screw-eye in the center and out- 
side of the frame is an economical way of fastening down 
the curtain during cold nights and stormy weather. 
I An opening to let birds from the house to the shed is 
made 8 inches above the sill, 8 inches wide and 10 inches in 
height. This is closed by means of a slide, which pushes 
sideways instead of sliding up and down, as it will stay 
where it is put without fastening. The birds are admitted to 
the yard through a similar opening in the west end of the 
shed. 

A droppings board 27 inches wide is placed along the 
north side of the house 2 feet from the sill. It is placed on 
cleats and is not attached in any way to the house, making 
it easy to clean the house and destroy the vermin. ■ Two 




64-POULTR'i' HOUSE FOR SOUTHERN BREEDERS-CLOSED 



planed 2 by 3's, laid flat, with the upper corners rounded, 
are used for perches and are 6 inches above the droppings 
board, 2 in each liouse, placed on oil cup brackets. 

Along the front edge of the droppings board a % by 2 
inch strip is nailed. In the center of the front of board a 
hole 5 inches square is cut to place pail under for conven- 
ience in cleaning. 

Under this board are placed two drawers, one at each 
end. Each drawer contains two nests, each 15 inches square 
and 18 inches high. All but 4 inches along the bottom of 
the back is open to admit the hen. The top is all open for 
convenience of the attendant. The ends run back a foot be- 
yond the 15 inches to support it when the drawer is pulled 
out. This gives the hens a dark place to lay in, off the floor, 
and a convenient place from which to collect the eggs. These 
drawers are in no way attached to the droppings board and 



can be taken out at any time and carried out of doors. 
During the hot summer months a perch is placed in the 
shed and birds are shut from the house for a night or two to 
get them in the habit of roosting there. This is much more 
comfortable and healthful for the birds. 

The outside of the house is covered with a prepared 
roofing. 

The ends and sides of the house are covered and then a 
4-inch frieze is nailed all the way around over the top of the 
paper. Then the roof is covered and a 4-inch ridge-board 
nailed on top along the front edge. On the ends and back 
the paper laps over the edge about 1 inch and is nailed down 
with tin buttons. The house is filled with about 4 inches of 
stone to admit of perfect drainage. Then 4 inches of gravel 
dirt, or some convenient material, with a 4-inch layer of 
coarse sand or fine gravel on top. This allows any water 
which may be spilled on it to pass off quickly and also sup- 
plies the fowls with plenty of grit. Two 4-inch boards 
3 feet long are nailed together at right angles and are then 
nailed to the sills in the southwest corner of the house, mak- 
ing a frame 3 feet square. This is tilled witfi. fine dusting 
material for dust baths. The building being raised up well 
from the ground can be banked so as to throw all water 
away from it. 

A board 6 inches square is nailed to the top of the sill 

in the east end of the house. A 2-quart galvanized iron 

drinking fountain is placed on this board. Here also, on the 

sills, is placed a box 4 inches deep and 4 inches wide. This 

is kept filled with gravel and grit if 

needed. 

A feed trough is made out of % 
by 6 inch lumber 4 feet long. Across 
each end on the under side a piece of 
2 by 3 is nailed. Along the side a' 
lath is nailed, coming flush with 
the bottom and extended above the 
board about X inch. The ends are 
nailed on and are 6% inches from 
the bottom up as high as the lath. 
From here they taper to IX inches 
wide 5 inches above the board. 
From end to end on top astrip 7 by 
IX inches is nailed, which keeps the 
birds off the trough and is conven- 
ient in handling. 

In the center of the space in 
front of droppings board a string 
with a slip-knot is suspended. It 
is of sufficient length so that when 
a cabbage is hung in it by the roots 
the birds cannot reach the head with- 
out jumping for it. 
■ Litter is placed in the shed to a depth of from 6 to 8 
inches and all the cracked grain is fed in this. Various ma- 
terials may be used in here, as cheap hay, etc. One of the 
best is oak leaves. 

The yards run to the rear of the house, the front end 
coming flush with the front of the house. 

A house of this description gives the' birds plenty of fresh 
air and lots of exercise, and the owner a large number of 
fertile eggs that will hatch strong, healthy chicks. It will 
accommodate 15 females and one male. It is desirable to 
shift males every other day or so. 

Material Needed 

350 square feet lumber. 
45 feet X by 2 inch. 
166 feet 2 by 4. 



44 



POULTRY HOUSKS AND FIXTURES 









44 feet 4 by 4. 
1 iron button. 

3 pairs 5-inch T-hinges. 
15 feet strong cord. 

1 pulley. 

4 china eggs. 

2 cupboard door catches. 
1 door latch. 

20 pounds 8d cut nails. 

1 sash, 6 lights, 8 by 12 inch. 

6 feet of 5-foot poultry netting. 

2/^ feet of 30-inch poultry netting. 

4 feet of 24-inch poultry netting. 

4 perch brackets. 

1 drinking fountain. 

250 sq. feet of Asphalt Ready Roofing, 
sand surface, or 350 square feet of Rubber- 
oid Roofing Paper, % ply. 

Archite<fl's Comment 



For poultry keepers on a small scale this house is hard 
to beat. The plan is very simple and economical, and the 
house may be used as a colony house. There is nothing su- 
perfluous to incur uncalled for expense, still it is very sub- 
stantially and conveniently constructed, with sufficient room 
for the number of fowls stated. 




66 - SCRATCHING SHED COLONY HOUSE. DESIGNED BY JAMES M. STOCKING 









?Pr>r 



JTL 






55-PLAN OF SCRATCHING SHED COLONY HOUSE. DESIGNED BY J. M. STOCKING 



The foundation posts are deep enough to be below frost 
line and far enough above ground to insure a dry building 
for fowls. An especially good and inexpensive featilre is the 
floor, which is made of coarse stone; above that gravel and 
then sand above the gravel. This will keep the floor dry. 

The' floor is not encumbered either in the roosting room 
■or scratching shed, as all fixtures, etc., are raised. The walls 
are boarded and tar papered on the outside. This would be 
better if papered inside also. We would not advise using % 



inch boards for the wall, for they will certainly warp and 
crack in a short time, and the differance in price would not 
warrant using them. All boards outside should be nailed on 
up and down; they will last much longer, since water does 
not remain between joints of boards as they would if put on 
crossways. 

A window sliding sideways would be preferable to one 

hinged on top, for it could be opened and closed from either 

out or inside, and there would be no danger of breaking 

glass, which might occur with the sash 

fastened as shown. 

Windows in scratching shed are not 
absolutely necessary. Their absence 
would diminish cost of construction. 
The sash is used only in very cold 
weather and therefore unnecessary most 
of the time. The question whether in- 
creased egg production will offset the 
additional cost of sash must be decided 
by practical test. 

All fixtures, such as droppings 
board, roosts, water and feed troughs, 
grit boxes, etc., are removable in this house. There 
is no need of a hole in the droppings board; it would be 
the cause of soiling the floor underneath. If the small 
piece of strip in front of board were omitted, it would be as 
well for cleaning. This would also allow a nest drawer to 
be made in one in place of two sections, thereby saving time. 
A good feature is suggested, namely, that the fowls are 
to roost in scratching shed during summer weather. This is 
more to their liking and conducive to their health. 





ii^oositing 3^oom anb ^cratcfjing ^fjeb 

Full Description of a Weil-Built Poultry House, and Manner of Building It — Bill of Lumber and Other 

Material Used in Its Con^rudion 



Otto O. Wild 



THIS HOUSE fronts south. Owing to the way peacli 
trees are set the west end stands at an angle N. E. 
S. W. This makes the front measure IS feet. By 
frontage an advantage is gained in securing the last 
rays of winter's evening sun. 

As no one would build thus under other conditions, we 
will assume the dimensions are as follows: Ten feet wide 
and 14 feet long. The roosting room is floored with white 
pine flooring and the partition is made' of the same material, 
lined with tarred paper and located 7 feet from the east end, 
making a room 7 by 10 feet. Front of building is 6 feet 6 
inches in height under eaves; the back 4 feet 6 inches under 
eaves. All framing material is of 2 by 4 scantling and all 
siding, flooring and the door in partition is white pine flooring 
6 inches wide, tongued and grooved. Inside walls are lined 
with tarred paper put on to studding before siding up, and 
later tacked at lap to inside of siding. The droppings board 
is placed back of the roosting room. It is 2 feet 6 inches 
wide by 6 feet 10 inches long, 20 inches above the floor. 
Sliding nests (made like drawers) are underneath. 
Front of nest faces window and is partially 
covered with a hood. The nest is a box 12 
by 12 by 18 inches without a top. It is 
suspended from the droppings board by a 

1 by 4 inch strip placed edgeways. Space 
them 14 inches apart and nail a cleat 1 by 

2 inches to the underside of each. This 
leaves a projection on each side of strip. 
Now nail a 1 by 1 inch square to nest box 
on each side at upper edge and you have 
a drawer to slide into the grooves on drop- 
pings board. Nail a 1 by 6 inch strip to 
cleats above box to shut out light and at 
the same time form a guard for droppings 
above. In front end of box I cut a round 
hole 8 inches in diameter for the hen to 
enter and cover top of same with a hood. 

The nest as arranged is 4 inches from 
the floor at bottom. The hood shuts out the view of 
interior. If any old timer tries egg eating, turn the boxes 
end for end and let them enter from behind. Drinking, 
grit and mash troughs are made of galvanized iron gut- 
tering, the ends closed by a tinner, and are hung by 
the hangers that are sold with them. The grit trough is 
placed in the roosting room and the mash and water 
troughs on side and back walls of scratching shed. 
They are hung on nails (heads taken off) and can be readily 
removed to clean, thaw out or hang up out of reach. 

Roosts are 2 by 4 scantling, having edges rounded, 
and placed on 2 by 6 rests above droppings board, not 
nailed, and easily removed. There is a door at south 
end of partition between roosting room and scratching 
shed 2 feet 4 inches wide and 5 feet 8 inches high, hinged 
towards center of building. It is furnished with latch, hasp 
and lock. A small side door is located just back of the 
larger one, but out of the way, when the large door is open. 

The roosting room has two windows, one of double 
sash 8 lights 10 by 14 glass in front, put in just as in any 
house except that the studding answers for side of frame. 



The east end of the building has a single 4 light sash of same 
sized glass, hinged at side and hooked to corner studding on 
the inside. This window catches the early sun and can be 
open for ventilation. The front of scratching shed is closed 
with heavy cotton cloth tacked on frames, one of which is 
hinged to an upright scantling and can be more readily 
opened and closed in going in and out. 
roof is laid close together, covered with 
then shingled. 



The sheathing of 
tarred paper and 



Lumber Specifications 

Sills are made of 2 by 4 scantling spiked together and 
laid down edgeways. Joists are broken at corners. 

2 pieces 2.\4x9 feet 8 inches, 2 pieces 2x4x9 feet 10 inches, 
2 pieces 2x4x13 feet 8 inches, 2 pieces 2x4x13 feet 10 inches, 
outside sills. 

2 pieces 2x4x9 feet 4 inches, partition sills. 

3 pieces 2x4x9 feet 4 inches, roosting room joists. 
Spike partition sill and joists in from inner frame of sill 

and put outside sill on last. Then spike all together. 




67- POULTRY HOUSE DESIGNED AND BUILT BY OTTO O. WILD 



ti pieces 2x4x6 feet front. 

9 pieces 2x4x4 feet back. 

3 pieces 2x2x4 feet 6% inches, 3 pieces 2x4x.5 feet, b% 
inches, 3 pieces 2x4x6 feet 1% inches, 3 pieces 2x4x6 feet 8^ 
inches, ends and partitions. 

Set studs on partition ends and back flat and 2 feet apart 
in clear except at door, which set 2 feet 2 inches. Set front 
studs edgeways. 



pieces 2x4x14 feet. 



Plates 



Rafters 



8 pieces 2x4x2 feet 8% inches, short span. 
8 pieces 2x4x8 feet X inch long span. 

Siding (600 feet) 

40 pieces 1x6x10 feet, ends and floor roosting room. 

17 pieces 1x6x12 feet, 19 pieces 2x6x14 feet, gable front, 
each side window and to make door back and front of house 
and droppings board. 



46 



POULTRY HOUSES AND FIXTURES 



6 pieces 2x6x16 feet, partition. 

Sheathing (190 feet) 

2 pieces 1x12x16 feet 

14 pieces 1x8x16 feet. 

Let sheathing project 3 inches all 
around and drop shingles 2 inches 
below this. 

460 square feet tarred paper. 

1% thousand shingles. 

2 pieces 1x4x16 feet, caps over shin- 
gles at peak of roof. 

Windows 

1 8-light double sash 10x14 glass. 

1 4-light single sash 10x14 glass. 

Door 

2 feet 4 inches by 5 feet 8 inches, figures in flooring bill. 
8 pieces 1x4x12 feet, feasings and facings. 

Hinges 

1 pair 4 inch straps for partition doors. 

2 pair 3 inch strap 

; for east window and 

cloth door to scratch 
shed, 1 common door 
latch, partition door. 

1 hasp, 2 staples, 1 
padlock. 

2 hooks and screw 
eyes for east window and cloth door for scratch shed. 

Miscellaneous 

2 pieces 2 by 4 by 10 inch scantlings for roost and to 
support droppings board. 

2 pieces 2 by 6 by 3 feet, 3 pieces 1 by 4 by 16 feet, to 
make frames for door and open front of scratching shed. 

These frames are 2 feet 4 inches by 5 feet 2 inches and 
4 feet 6 inches by 5 feet 2 inches. 

2% yards (double yard width) cotton cloth to cover 
same. 

1 galvanized trough 4 inch guttering 18 inches long, grit. 

1 galvanized trough 4 inch guttering 3 feet long, water. 

1 galvanized trough 4 inch guttering, 6 feet 8 inches 
long, mash. 




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70-FRONT AND END ELEVATION OF HOUSE DESIGNED BY OTTO O. WILD 




68-NEST AND DROPPINGS BOARD 
IN O. O. WILDS POULTRY HOUSE 




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HOUSE FOR TWO FLOCKS 



Bill of Material 



How It Is Con^ruded — The 
Required 
R. Crusias 

TKE general appearance of my poultry house is well 
illustrated by the accompanying cuts. The main 
building is 9 by 12 feet, 6 feet high in front and 3 feet 
4 inches high in the back. It is covered with matched, 
hemlock boards, which are not planed. The roof is covered 
with 3 ply tar paper and the sides with 1 ply tar paper, bat- 
tened with lath. Two windows, hinged at the top to swing 
outward, furnish sufficient light. The window spaces are 
covered with wire netting on the inside to prevent the fowl, 
escaping when the windows are open. 

This house may be divided crosswise in the middle, 
making 2 pens. There is a door at each end near the fronts 

5 feet high and 2 feet wide, through which the house is entered. 

The roosts are hinged to the back wall of the house, 3 
feet from the floor, and may be turned up and hooked to the 
rafters to be out of the way when the house is cleaned. 
Under these roosts is a board floor, 4 feet wide, which serves 
as both floor and roost platform. In front of this floor is a 
boarded pit, 4 by 10 feet, one foot deep. In this pit are 
placed the straw and leaves in which the hard grain is fed. 
The nests are placed in front of this pit close to the front 
wall of the house, under the windows. 

On each end of this house is a scratching shed 5 by .5 feet 

6 inches, 5 feet high in front arid 3 feet 4 inches high at the 
back. Excepting a space 18 inches high at the bottom, the 
fronts of these sheds are made of wire netting. 



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69— FRONT AND END VIEW OF HOUSE DESCRIBED BY R. CRUSINS 



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SCRATCHING SHED HOUSES 



47 



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Over the pit in 
the main building 
is a loft, floored by 
placing narrow 
boards upon 2 by 
4s nailed to the 
rafters, with suffi- 
cient spaces be- 
tween the boards 
to allow the air to 
circulate freely 
between them. 
On these boards is 
placed a thick bed 
of hay or straw to 
absorb any mois- 
ture that may be in the house. 

The main building is lined with building paper. 









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7 1 -PLAN OF HOUSE DESCRIBED BY R. CRUSINS 



The 



sheds are not lined. 

The bill of ma- 
terial required to 
build this house is 
as follows: 

230 feet 2 by 4 
scantling. 

2 sash, 2 feet 
by 2 feet 3 inches. 

2 rolls 3 ply 
tar paper. 

2 rolls 1 ply tar 
paper. 

2bunaheslath. 

600 feet match- 
ed hemlock boards 
This house is not expensive, nor difficult to construct, 
and it has given me excellent satisfaction ever since I built it. 



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HOUSE AND SCRATCHING SHED 

Single Walls Covered with Building Paper Make a 
Comfortable Poultry House in Indiana 

Elwaia H. Kidd 

I WILL send you a plan of a single pen house which will 
afford ample room for 30 hens. It is built on the 
scratching shed plan having the shed at one end. It 
contains a laying room 10 by 12 feet and scratching 
shed 10 by 8 feet. The height in front is 9 feet, in rear it is 
7 feet. 

The following is the lumber required to construct it: 
60 feet of 2 by 6 scantling. 
300 feet of 2 by 4 scantling. 



100 feet of 2 by 2. 

900 feet of 1 inch pine siding (matched) or shiplap. 
48o square feet of roofing, not covering shed, or 6.35 
square feet if the shed is covered. 
75 square feet of wire netting. 

2 glazed sashes 2 by 2. 

3 pairs of large hinges and cla.^ps. 

Description of House 

This house is built of inch matched lumber or shiplap 
covered with P. & B. rubberoid or some other good paper and 
set on bricks or stone piers. The roof is also made of 
matched boards and rubberoid. Unless desired, the scratch- 
ing shed part need not be covered with roofing. This house 
is plenty warm enough for this section of the country, al- 
though if built in a colder climate it might be necessary to 




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72— POULTRY HOUSE AND SCRATCHING SHED. DESIGNED BY ELWAIN H. KIDD 



48 



POULTRY HOUSES AND FIXTURES 



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and raised at 
They should be 12 inches wide, 
inches deep, this size being very 



have double walls. If this plan is 
found too expensive, the cost of con- 
struction could be cheapened by using 
rough lumber. In the laying room 
there is a floor of matched boards 
raised 1 foot above the ground. In 
the scratching shed there is no floor, 
but 6 or 8 ifiches of gravel should be 
put in to insure against dampness. 
The windows are 2 feet by 2 feet, 6 
panes of glass each, and placed four 
feet from the ground on the south side 
(the house should face the south). The 
roost platform is placed 3 feet and 3 
inches or 4 feet from the floor and is 
movable, sliding out when you wish to give it a thorough 
cleaning. It accommodates 2 roosts which are 10 or 12 inches 
above the platform. Nests are underneath 
least 2 feet from the floor. 
16 inches long and 10 
ponvenient. 

For drinking vessels I use a 2 quart fountain. 

For feed troughs make a V-shaped trough 3 feet long 
with a strap or hook or something to hang to the wall when 
not in use, having the sides in the shape of a triangle, extend- 
ing 4 to 6 inches above the top of the 
trough. Between the tops of the two 
sides nail a strip, which prevents the 
birds soiling the food. 

There is no reason why hens kept 
in it should not lay all winter if properly 
cared for. There is never any dampness 
in this house and it is good and warm. 
In summer the scratching shed may be 
used as a roosting room. 

Wire should be placed over the 
windows to prevent fowls flying out, 
and wire doors in summer are a great 
comfort to the fowls. A small door 
may be cut in the large one for the hen 
to enter. A canvas curtain must be 
provided to let down in front of the 



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73-FRONT VIEW-MR. SKINNERS POULTRY HOUSE 



scratching shed during severe or stormy weather. A 
burlap curtain may be arranged to let down from the 
roof during very cold weather. It will keep the poultry 
much warmer. 

Nests, roosts, etc., should be made so that they may 
be easily removed and cleaned. 

Hens kept in this house will always be healthy and lay 
an abundance of eggs from which a large percentage of 
healthy, vigorous chicks, will hatch. Try this plan, and you 
will find it a good one. 







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74-PLAN, SHOWING LOCATION OF ROOSTS, ETC.-MR. SKINNER'S POULTRY HOUSE 



HOUSE FOR ONE FLOCK 

A Poultry House with Scratching Shed Attached to 
Accommodate One Pen 

O. E. Skinner 

THOSE about to build for the first time, or those in- 
tending to increase the capacity of their plants, 
will find this plan as practical as can be found, 
especially when cost of construction is considered. 
It is best to lay a stone wall for the foundation, building 
it at least 12 inches higher than the surface of the ground, 
so that when it is filled in with earth, or sand, the top will 
be thoroughly dry. 

The house is 8 by 16 feet on the ground. It is framed 
with scantling and covered with shiplap or tongued and 
grooved barn boards. The boards for the north side are cut 
3 feet 6 inches long, and for the south or front wall of the 
house, 8 feet long. 

The door is in the south side near the southeast corner 
and is 5 feet 6 inches high. The window has two sashes, 
each containing four lights of 8 by 10 inch glass. 



Stringers of 2 by 4 scantling extend clear around the 
house inside the boarding, except across the space occupied 
by the door. These stringers are 16 inches above the tops of 
the sills. The window slides upon a slanting window sill 
nailed to the top of stringer, near the door. At the top of the 
window is another stringer, extending across the front of the 
house inside, which serves the double purpose of strengthen- 
ing the wall and providing a runway for the window, which 
slides to one side when opened. 

The roosts rest upon these stringers and extend across 
the house near the west end. They are not attached to the 
stringers, and can be easily removed when the house is to 
be cleaned. 

A slanting board is nailed over the window, as shown in 
the illustration, and another over the door to form a hood to 
keep rain from driving in over the top of the door and 
through the joints of the window. 

I use a heavy screen door in place of the solid one during 
the hot weather. This screen door has vertical bars placed 
so near together that a man cannot get through. The cleats 
on this door extend a little over at one side to fit into the 
place made by opening the solid door. This screen door can 
be locked the same as the solid one, if it has a hasp opposite 
to the staple to which the solid door locks when closed. 



SCRATCHING SHED HOUSES 



49 



When cuttfng rafters for the roof allow for a 4 or 5 
inch projection over the plate at the front of the house and 
about 7 inches at the back. When nailing on the lumber 
which covers the roof let it project over each end of the 
building about 5 inches; then when the facing strip is put 
on and the shingles project % of an inch over that, it makes 
a projection of 6/^ or 7 inches, which is sufficient. I covered 
the roof with 16 inch shingles, laid 5 inches to the weather, 
doubling the lower course. 
^ After finishing 
the house proper, 
I built a scratch- 
ing shed at the 
east end, nearly 
the full width of 
the house and 8 
feet long. For 
building this 
shed I used the 
same material as 
for building the 
house. The 
boards for the 
north side are 14 
inches long. Cut 

one for the west side and one for the east side of the front 4 
feet 6 inches long. 




75- 



■EAST END VIEW-MR. SKINNER'S 
POULTRY HOUSE 



A door for the fowls to pass between the house and shed 
is made by cutting off one strip of the boarding on the easfc 
end of the house one foot from the sill. This opening has a 
slide to cover it. It is well to make a door in the east end of 
the shed large enough for a person to go through when nec- 
essary. The front is covered with poultry netting. After 
building the shed, I cut a space- for a window in the east end 
of the house, above the roof of the shed, to let in the sun in 
the morning. 

To build this house will require about the following bill: 

2,000 shingles; thirteen pieces 2 by 4 16 feet long; seven 
pieces 2 by 4 20 feet long; 325 feet shiplap, or barn boards, 
16 feet long; 66 feet shiplap or barn boards 14 feet 
long; three sashes of four 8 by 10 lights each; three 
pieces 1 by 4 14 feet long, planed on one side; 2,000 feet of 
sheathing 6 inches wide, % of which should be 12 feet long 
and /<J 16 feet long; one pair of 4 inch strap hinges; one pair 
of 6 inch strap hinges; ten pounds 8 penny nails; ten pounds 
4 penny shingle nails; four yards 22 inch window screen, to 
go inside windows and on screen door; 8 feet of 4 foot poultry 
netting on front of shed, 6 feet 2-foot poultry netting to use 
on screen door over the fine screen, to keep out dogs and 
other animals. 

There is a 2 inch space over the plate under the rafters.. 
I fill this space with paper or sacks in the winter, but re- 
move this material in the summer to secure better ventila- 
tion. 1 also line the house inside with tarred paper. 



A SCRATCHING SHED HOUSE 

A Poultry House, with Scratching Shed and Walk, 
that Can be Extended to any Length 

H. S. Nicholson 

I AM glad to present to the readers a description and 
plans of a poultry house which I designed for my own 
use that has given me good satisfaction. It is 18 feet 
long by 11 feet wide, and can be built to any conveni- 
ent height. It has a walk 3 feet wide, extending the entire 
length of the house next the north wall with a door opening 
outward at each end. A roosting room 7 by 8 feet occupies 
the east end of the house in froftt of the walk, leaving a space 
11 by 8 feet for a scratching shed. The shed has a wire 
front with a curtain to keep out the 
storm and a door near the west end 
opening into the yard, which extends 
in front of the house. One window on 
the south side of the roosting room 
admits sunlight and air to dry out any 
moisture that accumulates from the 
breath of the fowls. A four-light win- 
dow in the north wall lights the walk. 
A door near the west end of the longitu- 
dinal partition opening into the walk, 
admits the attendant to tHe scratching 
shed, from which he enters the roosting 
room through the door in the solid 
partition shown in the accompanying 
illustration. 

The roost 
and two roosts are placed above it. ^ 

The partition between the walk and ^^^^ 
the scratching shed is made of wire 
netting, except the lower part of the door 



and a base board 18 inches high. The bottom of this base 
board is cut away to admit water and food troughs (E and F. 
See longitudinal section) , which are filled and pushed 
through from the walk. The food troughs may be drawn 
back into the walk after the fowls have eaten. 

Over the roost are three pens (A), for cooping broody 
hens, which are not to be used as sitters. 

The roost platform (C) slides upon cleats and can be 
pulled back into the walk to be cleaned. Under the plat- 
form, raised a little above the floor, are the nests, each built 
separate from the others and cajiable of being pulled back 
into the walk to remove the eggs. 

The partition between the walk and roosting room is 
made tight to keep out drafts and cold from the roosting 
apartments. 

The house may be set upon a brick foundation, extend- 












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platform is 3 feet wide ^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^E 
are placed above it. ^ — ^ ^^^^ 



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76-LONGITUDINAL SECTION SHOWING THE POSITION OF FIXTURES IN PARTITION IN 
FRONT OF WALLS-H. S. NICHOLSON'S POULTRY HOUSE 



50 



POULTRY HOUSES AND FIXTURES 




77-END VIEW-H. S. NICHOLSONS POUL- 
TRY HOUSE 



ing to below the frost line and standing 6 inches above the 
surface of the ground. The floor is cheapest and best when 
made of earth filled in level with the top of the bricks. 

The studding 
is of 2 by 4 stuff 
and the structure 
i s covered with 
tongued and 
grooved boards. 

The roof may 
b e covered with 
some of the water 
proof papers made 
for the purpose, or 
with shingles. If 
the fabric is also 
placed on the walls 
it will protect the 
boarding and make the building wind proof. 

A Ithougli tliis house was intended for my small flock, 
there is no reason why it should not be extended to any 
reasonable length, putting roosting rooms and scratching 
sheds in pairs. 



SCRATCH SHED AND BROODING HOUSE 

A Poultry House Designed for a Small Flock, Built 

Economically and with Due Regard to the 

Comfort of the Fowls 

Frank L. Harris 

THE advantages I claim for my poultry house are 
Sliding sash, doing away with the old style of open 
fronts in bad weather, also with drop curtain, 
which on cold, dark days only make it still darker. 
In having the sash sliding instead of hinged, you run no 
risk of the wind blowing them open or shut and so breaking 
the glass. 

A small window in the roosting room faces east and so 
catches the first rays of the sun in the morning, which is 
what we want; also being in the east it does not heat up your 
roosting room so as to cause too great a difference in day and 
night temperature. 

The roosting room being plastered, 
there are no drafts and one can keep it 
cleaner. It is easy to keep lice down 
with your roosts i n oil cups. Having a 
4 inch dead air space keeps the roosting 
room much drier and is about as cheap 
ifi the long run. 

The ventilator being within 6 inches 
of the floor and extending 3 feet above 
the roof, draws all the foul air off; 
also any dampness would pass through 
it. I use the ventilator bottom as grit 
box, having a flange on it turned up 
at the edge. This house makes an ideal 
brooder house in the winter, as well. 
Once used it finds a friend for a long 
time, as it is ideal for early hatched 
chicks. 

I have tried many poultry buildings, 
but so far have found that this one is 
the best for broods. As for the layers, 
I get eggs in any kind of weather. 



While it costs more than it would if the roostmg room walla 
were single, I am well paid for it in healthy poultry and 
numerous eggs. 

Architect's Comment 

The chief points of merit in this house are its economical 
construction and the thought displayed in its arrangement. 
The east window small; admitting enough light and little 
cold; the double boarded roosting room; the sliding glass 
front to scratching shed wired inside; the entrance through 
the scratching shed to the roosting room insuring the ad- 
mittance of no direct draught or cold air; it seems an ideal 
house for the small poultry keeper. Probably the scratch- 
ing shed might be enlarged and the roosts increased in 
number and the house so made to accomodate more 
fowls. The small poultry keeper will be able to get second- 
hand sash suited for the front of the scratching shed, while 
on a large plant the cost of sash would be an obstacle. 

A very well built house, arranged conveniently for at- 
tendant and fowl. No space wasted, except that occupied 
by the ventilator. It is well built, the walls being double; 
plastered inside of roosting room and weather-boarded out- 
side. This insures a perfectly tight'room for fowls at night. 
The single board walls in scratching shed are good enough 
for this purpose, since fowls only occupy it in daytime. 
The sliding sashes in scratching shed are very desirable for 
ease in controlling amount of air to be admitted. They 
ought to be removable, however, so as to allow them to be 
taken out entirely in summer. The entrance being on the 
west side of shed, leaves the entire south front for light and 
ventilation. The ventilator is unnecessary, since ample air 
can be obtained by means of door and windows. It also 
encumbers the floor and is in the way of fowls. 

A TENNESSEE POULTRY HOUSE 

An Adaptation of the Scratching Shed Plan — Rec- 
ommended for Use in Southern Climates 

C. F. Green 

HAVE an up-to-date poultry house, which I designed 
myself. It may be built of tongued and grooved 
stuff, or of rough lumber, as preferred. It has floor 
space on the ground 10 liy 10 feet in size and is 6 feet 
high in front and 6 feet at the back. It slopes to the front 




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78-PLAN SHOWING LOCATION OF DOORS AND INTERIOR FIXTURES-H. S. NICHOLSON'S 

POULTRY HOUSE 



SCRATCHING SHED HOUSES 



51 





79-PLAN, SECTION AND PERSPECTIVE OF MR. HARRIS' SCRATCH SHED POULTRY AND BROODING HOUSE 



and is a modification of the open front scratching shed plan. 
The front should be inclosed with wire netting and in cold 
weather covered by curtains. The floor of the roosting and 
laying room is built 3 feet above the floor proper and the 
apartment occupies 6 feet next the back wall, leaving a space 
4 feet wide in front. The roost platform is 3 feet from floor 
of the roosting room, is 3 feet wide and extends the length of 
the building. The roosts are of scantling 2 inches square. 
There is an inclined platform, which can be removed when 
the house is to be cleaned, running from the roost platform 
to a box, which is built on top of the nest box. This box is 
to catch the droppings as they are swept forward, and ex- 
tends from one end of the house to the other. 

From the center of this box a good sized pipe extends 
down through the nest box and floor into the scratching shed, 
where a bucket is placed under it. 

The entire front of the roosting and laying room is hinged 
at the top and has a rope attached at the bottom. This rope 
passes over a pulley and its other end is attached to a weight 



to balance the weight of the front and assist in raising and 
lowering it. When you wish to clean the roost platform, or 
the floor of the roosting room, you simply raise the entire 
front and sweep all material from the platform down the 
incline into the box, from which it is swept into the pipe and 
falls into the bucket. 

The nest box is 1 foot shorter at each end than the box 
above it, so that the birds can go under the roost platform 
and enter the nests from the rear. The nest box may be 
opened at the front and the eggs gathered by reaching 
through the hinged panels and window shown in the cut. 

The fowls reach the roosting room by ladders at both 
ends of the house. In the drawing the house is shown with 
the end boards knocked off to show the interior arrange- 
ment. By this plan we secure a floor space 10 by 10 feet in 
size for the fowls to work in. 

This plan has given us excellent satisfaction and we be- 
lieve it is particularly adapted for use in this climate. 



HOUSE FOR A VILLAGE FLOCK 

A Warmly Built House with Glass Front Scratching 

Shed — Method of Ventilating and Bill 

of Material Required 

F. Clark 

THIS poultry house should face the south so as to get 
all the sun possible. A house for as many fowls 
as the average person wants to keep may be 10 feet 
by 8 feet for the roosting coop 
and 10 feet by 12 feet for the scratching 
shed. This will accommodate 30 Leg- 
horns. A house for a cold climate like 
we have in Chicago should be double 
boarded. The 2 by 4 studding should 
be put up and good building paper 
tacked on both sides of it. Then 1 inch 
pine flooring 5 or 6 inches wide should 
be nailed on the inside of the studding 
in the roosting coop and on both sides 
of the studding between the scratching 
shed and the roosting coop. One inch 
drop siding 8 inches wide should be 
nailed on the outside of the studding of 
the roosting coop and scratching shed. 
The roof of the roosting room should 
also be double boarded with building 
paper on both sides of the 2 by 4 rafters 
to prevent cold from striking through and 



to keep the heat in the house. The roof may be built as a sep- 
arate structure and put on when the other part of the house 
is finished; in fact, if the house will have to be moved, as it 
sometimes will when the owner does not own the land, it 
may be built in sections to be held together by hooks. The 
scratching shed, which joins the east side of the roosting 
coop, should be made 2 inches lower so its roof will fit 
underneath the roof of the coop, which overlaps it 4 inches. 
The scratching shed must fit tight up to the coop. The front 
of the scratching shed should be boarded to the height of 1 
foot from the bottom to keep the straw from being scratched 
out. The door is 3 feet wide and reaches from the foot sill to 




80-PLAN SHOWING EXTERIOR AND INTERIOR OF A TENNESSEE HOUSE BY C. F. GREEN 



52 



POULTRY HOUSES AND FIXTURES 



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the roof. This leaves a space in the front of the scratching 
shed 5 feet 10 inches by 9 feet, which in this climate, for 
Leghorns, should be filled with sash, although if a curtained 
scratching shed is preferred a muslin curtain could easily be 
substituted for the sash. With the glass, on stormy days it 
is light and comfortable and on the coldest days when the 
sun is shining the door can be left open (there is a wire door 
to keep the fowls in) and the entire building will be well 
ventilated. The doors between the scratching shed and the 
roosting coop are left open all the time except at night, as 
well as the window in the roosting room. These should be 
about 3 feet by 4 feet and hinged at the bottom, to be opened 
by means of a transom lifter fastened near the top. You can 
then open the window as much or as little as desired at the 
top, regulating it by the transom lifter. I prefer to ventilate 
it from the top, as this allows the draft to pass over the fowls 
that are on the floor, and the moisture which accumulates 
near the roof will escape 

There are two doors between the 
scratching shed and roosting room. 
The doors are 2 feet 6 inches wide 
and will close back close to the wall 
and be out of the way. The two 
doors when closed make the room 
double boarded, with a 4 inch air 
space over all. 

The roof of the scratching shed 
may be made one board thick. Both 
roofs should be covered with two or 
three ply tarred felt and given a coat 
of pitch, which will make them last 
for years. The building should be 
set on stones or posts 6 or 8 inches 
from the ground; then a board should 
be nailed all around on the inside 
and the house filled to the sills with 
sand. This answers three purposes 
— it keeps the coop dry, prevents the 
bottom edges of the coop from rotting 
and gives the fowls the chance for a 

good dust bath. There is no wood floor in the coop under 
which rats can live. The sun warms the sand and the fowls 
enjoy themselves in it. 

The coop should contain a droppings board placed about 
2 feet 4 inches from the ground and hooked to cleats with 
hooks and eyes to keep it in place or allow it to be easily 
taken out. It should be about 3 feet 6 inches wide. There 
should be two roosts made of 2 by 4 stuff, with the corners 
rounded, about 8 inches above the droppings board, laid on 
cleats so that they can be taken out when cleaning. There 
should be a curtain hung from the roof, which can be hooked 
up or let down in front of the roosts on the coldest nights to 
keep in the heat. As the fowls roost only about 2 feet from 
the roof, this heat amounts to a good deal on a cold night. 



A bracket may be put on the west wall between the drop- 
pings board and the window, aboutS inches from the ground, 
to hold the water fountain. It is better to put it in the roost- 
ing room, as there is less dust there, and it does not get full 
of litter when the birds are scratching. 

The furnishings of the scratching shed consist of a shelf 
about 2 feet wide and about 2 feet from the ground and 
running along the west side and back, and along the east 
side if desired. The shelf on the west side, after allowance 
is made for the door into the roosting room, will accommo- 
date five nests each 11 by 14 inches, leaving an 8-inch 
passageway back of the nests for the hens to use when they 
go to lay. The nests and passageway are covered by boards 
slanting from the front of the nests to the wall. This dark- 
ens the nests and prevents egg eating and also prevents the 
hens from being disturbed when anyone enters the scratch- 
ing shed. This cover should be hinged so it can be raised to 
collect the eggs. The back and east side shelves are to place 






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GROUND PLAN OF F. CLARK'S 
POULTRY HOUSE 



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81 -FRONT OF F. CLARK'S POULTRY HOUSE 



coops on in which to keep spare males. A curtain should 
be hung in front of the coops which can be thrown back on 
top of them in the daytime and let down at night. The 
shelves should be laid on cleats. This space will accommo- 
date eight coops each 2 by 2 feet by 2 feet 6 inches high. 
Everything can be taken out without trouble. No bottom is 
required in the nests, the shelf acting as a bottom. The 
only other thing necessary in the scratching shed is a box 
with three compartments; one for oyster shells, one for grit 
and one for charcoal. This box is to be placed near the door 
and 6 inches from the ground. The fowls will scratch the 
straw on the floor to one side when they want a dust bath, 
so no dust box is necessary. 

The material require d tor the coop is 800 sq. feet of 5-inch 
flooring, 150 square feet of it be- 
ing 8 feet long, 250 square feet 10 
feet long and 400 square feet 12" 
feet long. Also 400 square feet 
drop siding, 100 square feet 12 feet 
long, 140 square feet 8 feet long, 
160 square feet 10 feet long and 
500 feet of 2 by 4's in 8 feet, 10 
feet and 12 feet lengths, 200 square 
feet of two or three ply tarred felt, 
four gallons of pitch, five pairs of 
hinges, three pairs of catches and 
staples, two locks, one for each 
door, one-half dozen hooks and 
eyes and some two-penny nails. 



iHaine experiment Station Curtain Jfront ||ouse 

The Plan of Con^rudion of a Curtain Front House Ereded at the Maine Experiment Station — The 
Fowls were Kept in Perfect Health and Gave Satisfadlory Results 

in Egg Production 



A. F. Hunter 



WE recently became interested in a poultry house 
possessing features that have not been generally 
accepted as practical, and which plan was being 
tried at the Maine Experiment Station. Later 
we heard of the unqualified success of the plan. Continued 
use of this curtained front house with a curtained front 
roosting room has resulted in some slight changes in the 
plan, but the central idea remains the same, namely, a house 
with a considerable section of the south front closed by a 
curtain only, the birds being shut in a curtained front roost- 
ing room at night when the weather w;as very cold. 

VYe commented upon the house then being tried as fol- 
lows: "The chief point of this poultry house is that only 
two cloth curtains are between the birds at night and all 
outdoors. It's cold weather up in Maine, the mercury often- 
times going away below zero; is it strange that Prof. Gowell 
shivered when he thought of those fifty Plymouth Rock 
pullets in that house with only a curtain front and another 
curtain in front of the roost pen? Another remarkable feat- 
ure of this house is that the birds were confined within the 
small roost pen on decidely cold nights, with only about four 
cubic feet of air space for each bird. Prof. Gowell told me 
that when the weather got well below freezing and they be- 
gan dropping the roost curtain, he hurried into his clothes in 
the morning, went to the poultry house and opened the end 
of the curtain to see how many pullets had been smothered 
in the night. This he did several times before he could feel 
sure the birds were getting on all right. He reported the air 
within the closed roosting pen as smelling 'henny' and 
somewhat close, but there was little evidence of exhaustion 



front house with its curtained front roosting room have fallen 
off but little in their egg yield, and both the house and scratch- 
ing material on the floor are perfectly dry. There is no white 
frost on the walls and there will be no dampness when the 
sveather moderates and a thaw cotnes. There could hardly 
be a stronger indorsement of fresh, pure air in a poultry 
house and good ventilation without draughts. If such good 
results can be obtained in cold Maine they should be attain- 
ed anywhere in the United States." 

The success of this house makes it a most interesting 
study, and its continued manifestation of good points has 
led to the building of a long house on the same general 
plan. This house is fully illustrated and described in a bullet- 
in and we print the description of the house, and give an 
illustration made from photographs kindly furnished us by 
Prof. Gowell. 

In a personal letter Prof. Gowell writes: "I wish I had 
delayed writing the bulletin till now, for we have just gotten 
through the coldest weather ever known in this section, 
and the cloth front roosting closet house has proved itself 
equal to the demands made upon it. The 300 pullets were 
not put into it, from the colony coops that you saw them in 
out on the range, until December 6th (all the carpenters 
were taken off to work on the hospital, hence the delay), but 
by the last of that month they had gotten under way and 
increased every week regularly in egg production all through 
January and February, and have laid from 160 to 180 
eggs every day this month. They come out of the warm 
closet every morning with evidence of having had comfortable 
dreams and they engaged in digging a breakfast out of the 





83 -EXTERIOR OF BREEDING HOUSE. POULTRY DEPARTMENT, MAINE STATE COLLEGE 



of the oxygen, and the splendid condition of the birds 
throughout the winter, together with their highly satisfactory 
egg yield, proved that the curtained front house and roost 
pen are all right." 

"A letter received from Prof. Gowell speaks of the con- 
tinued good work done by that house, and says: ' This is 
the ninth day of weather all the way from zero to 25 degrees 
below, still the fifty pullets in the 10 by 25 feet curtained 



straw litter in a way that showed that life was worth living — 
to them. Every head was blood red and there has not been 
even a snuffle seen or heard in that house!" 

Here is certainly ample proof of the "quality" of the 
curtained-front, curtained-roosting closet house. If this 
winter hasn't been severe enough and long enough to try a 
poultry house we don't know of one that would. And the 
house has kept perfectly dry, the birds have kept in high 



54 



POULTRY HOUSES AND FIXTURES 




-INTERIOR OF BREEDING HOUSE IN USE IN THE MAINE STATE COLLEC: 



health and increased in egg yield every week, right through 
it all. Could anything more be desired? We want eggs in 
winter if we want the best profit from our flocks, and we 
want the birds to come out of the winter in good health if 
their eggs are to give us the good strong-bodied chicks that 
live and grow. If we make the conditions right we will get 
these things, and the new idea poultry house seems to make 
the housing conditions just right. 

The following is taken from the bulletin referred to: 

The Curtain Front House for Hens 

"This building was erected in 1903 and is 14 feet wide 
and 150 feet long. The back wall is 5 feet 6 inches high from 
floor to top of plate inside, and the front wall is 6 feet 
9 inches high. The roof is of unequal span, the ridge being 
4 feet in from the front wall. The height of the ridge above 
the floor is 9 feet. The sills are 4 by 6 inches in size and rest 
on a rough stone wall laid on the surface of the ground. A 
central sill gives support to the floor which at times is quite 
heavily loaded w ith sand. The floor timbers are 2 by 8 inches 
in size and are placed 2 feet apart. The floor is two thick- 
nesses of hemlock boards. All of the rest of the frame is of 
2 by 4 inch stuff. The building is boarded, papered and 
shingled, on roof and walls. The rear wall and 4 feet of the 
lower part of the rear roof are ceiled on the inside of the 
studding and plates, and are packed, very hard, with dry 
sawdust. In order to make the sawdust packing continuous 
between the wall and roof, the wall ceiling is carried up to 
within 6 inches of the plate, then follows up inclining pieces 
of studding to the rafters. The short pieces of studding are 
nailed to the studs and rafters. By this arrangement there 
are no slack places around the plate to admit cold air. The 
end walls are packed in the same way. The house is divided 
by close board partitions into seven 20 foot sections, and one 
10 foot section is reserved at the lower end for a feed storage 
room. 

"Each of the 20 foot sections has two 12 light, outside 
windows screwed onto the front and the space between the 
windows, which is 8 feel long and 3 feet wide, dow n from the 
plate, is covered during rough winter storms and cold nights, 
by a light frame, covered with 10 ounce duck, closely tacked 
on. This door, or curtain, is hinged at top and swings in 
and up to the roof when open. 

"A door 2 feet 6 inches wide is in front of each section, 



The roost platform is at the rear 
side of each room and extends 
the whole 20 feet. The platform 
is 3 feet 6 inches wide and is 3 
feet above the floor. The roosts 
are 2 by 3 inch stuff placed on edge 
and are 10 inches above the plat- 
form. The back one is 11 inches 
out from the wall and the space 
between the two is 16 inches, leav- 
ing 15 inches between the front 
roost and the duck curtain, which 
is suflicient to prevent the curtain 
being soiled by the birds on the 
roost. The two curtains in front 
of the roost are similar to the 
one in front of the house. They 
are each 10 feet long and 30 inches 
wide, hinged at the top, and open 
out into the room and fasten up 
when not in use. Great care was 
exercised in constructing the 
roosting closets, to have them as 
near air tight as possible, except- 
ing what may be admitted through the cloth curtain. 

"Single pulleys are hung at the rafters, and with half 
inch rope fastened to the lower edge of the curtain frames 
they are easily raised or lowered and kept in place. At one 
end of the roosts a space of 3 feet is reserved for a cage for 
broody hens. This being behind the curtain, the birds have 
the same night temperature when they are transferred from 
the roosts to the cage. 

"Six trap nests are placed at one end of each room, and 
four at the other. They are put near the front so that the 
lights may be good for reading and recording the number on 
the leg bands of the birds. Several shelves are put on the 
walls, 1 foot 6 inches above the floor, for shell, grit, bone, 
etc. The doors which admit from one room to another, 
throughout the building, are frames covered with 10 ounce 
duck, so as to make them light. They are hung with double 
acting spring hinges. The advantages of having all doors 
push from a person are very great, as they then hinder the 
passage of the attendant, with baskets and pails, very little. 
Strips of old rubber belting are nailed around the studs 
which the doors rub against as they swing to, so as to just 
catch and hold them from opening too easily by the wind. 
Tight board partitions were used between the pens instead 
of wire, so as to prevent draughts. A platform 3 feet wide 
extends across both ends and the entire front of the building 
outside. 

"The house is well made of good material and should 
prove to be durable. It costs about $850. A rougher build- 
ing with plain instead of trap nests, with roof and walls 
covered with some of the prepared materials, instead of 
shingles, could be built for less money, and would probably 
furnish as comfortable quarters for the birds for a time as 
this building will. 

"This house accommodates 350 hens — 50 in each 20 foot 
section. It was not ready for occupancy until the 6th of 
December. Since then there has been some very severe 
weather, considerably below zero at night and about zero 
during the day, with a good deal of high wind. During this 
rough weather the bedding on the floor has kept perfectly 
dry; and the voidings on the platforms, as found when the 
curtains were raised in the mornings, have been but slightly 
frozen. The yield of eggs during this severe weather and 
the week immediately following it was not below those im- 
mediately preceeding it. It should be borne in mind that 



SCRATCHING SHED HOUSES 



55 



had the weather been mild during that time the hens would 
probably have increased in production rather than have re- 
mained stationary. They were doubtless affected by the 
severe weather, but not seriously, as they began to increase 
in production very soon after the weather became as usual 
or midwinter. 

Plan of the Yards 

The yards to most poultry houses are at the south, or 
sheltered side of the buildings, to afford protection during 
late fall and early spring when cold winds are common. 
The north house has yards on both north and south sides, 
with convenient gates. The south yards are used until the 
cold winds in spring are over, when they will go to the north 
yards, which are well set in grass sod. With the new 
curtain front house the yards are to be on the north side 
only. The birds will be kept in the building until the 
weather is suitable for opening the small doors in the rear 
wall. The necessity for getting them out from the open 
front house where they are really subject to most of the 
out of door conditions durjng the day time, is not so great 
as when they are confined in close houses, with walls and 
glass windows. The use of the rear yards only may not 
prove satisfactory. If, however, as good yields of eggs and 
health of birds result, many decided advantages will be 
obtained by dispensing with front yards. The clear open 
front of the house allows teams to pass close to the open door 
of the pens for cleaning out worn material, and delivering 
new bedding, and also in allowing attendants to enter and 
leave all pens from the outside walk, and reach the feed 
room without passing through intervening pens. 




A CURTAIN FRONT POULTRY HOUSE 

Economizes Space, Using the Floor as a Droppings 
Board, Placing Neftand Du^ Boxes Beneath 

John A. Rogers 

HEREWITH is shown a drawing of a poultry house 
possessing closed roosting rooms and open scratching 
shed with cotton curtains. It makes the most econom- 
ical house that can be built, as the system of roosting, 
rooms with nests and dusting boxes underneath, cuts off ati 
least 8 feet from the usual plan, and in addition gets the 
dust box out of the way. The ground plates should be 2 by 
8 inches; studs 2 by 4; rafters 2 by 4, with 20 inch centers;, 
building paper should be used, but the roof should be shingled. 

Comment 

The plans (III. 85) accompanying this descriptioit 
were so full of details that further description appeared to> 
be unnecessary. It will be seen that they illustrate a two- 
pen house 22 feet by 10 feet 6 inches, divided by a solid par- 
tition 2 feet 6 inches high, reaching to the floors of the roost- 
ing rooms, These floors serve as droppings boards. The 
walls are double. It will be noted that underneath the 
roosting rooms there are two dusting rooms, one for each 
pen, separated by a solid partition. Each room is 2 feet 6 
inches by 4 feet 6 inches, and is provided with a four-light 
window. In rear of these dusting rooms are apartments in- 
tended to be used as laying rooms. Each apartment con- 
tains two nest boxes of three nests each and the water 
fountain is located between these boxes. The apartments 
are separated from the dusting rooms by a partition. Each 
roosting room is provided with a cloth curtain tacked to 
ordinary frame furring. The doors to the building are ia 
front, one to each pen, and each possesses a six-light win- 
dow. There are two curtains, one in front of the scratching 
shed and one in front of the roosting room. 





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85-INTERIOR AND EXTERIOR VIEWS OF CURTAIN FRONT HOUSE DESIGNED BY JOHN A. ROGERS 



56 



POULTRY HOUSES AND FIXTURES 



THE FARM POULTRY HOUSE 

Seven Hundred Feet of Inch Boards and 200 Feet 

of 2x4 Studding Builds a House Complete for 

30 Fowls at a Co^ of About $30 

T, E. Orr 

THE time to build a house for either man or poultry is 
in the spring; let it dry and season all summer and 
begin to occupy it in the fall. The next best time 
is summer, and if you use seasoned lumber the 
month of Seprember will dry it out pretty well. 

Will not the old house do? As a rule— no. "The old 
house is a harbor for lice of a half dozen kinds. It has the 
partial droppings of past years in its corners. It has disease 
germs under its splinters and in its cracks, and the worst of 
all, it has too much air space to be warmed. 

How large shall I build a house for thirty pullets? 

Just 12 by 16 feet, no larger. That gives every hen an 
area of 6 square feet in which to live and move, and have 
her being — and scratch. I would not have it larger if it was 
given me free. 

Any scratching shed in addition? 

No. It's all scratching shed now. I want yon to see 
that each hen scratches thoroughly over her 6 square feet of 
space or its equivalent every morning for her breakfast. If 
she does this she does enough. She doesn't need to exhaust 
all her energies scratching either in the outside world or in 
a semi-outside scratching shed. I have no perjudice against 
the scratching shed except that I do not need it, and my 
faens do not need it. It costs money; it takes room. 

How high shall the house be? 

Now listen carefully. If you are a dwarf — a little sawed- 
olf man — make it 1 foot high at the back and 2 feet high 
in front. But if you are "not a dwarf" you must have it 
higher. Well, have your own way, but compromise with me 
for the sake of the hen; and make it only 4 feet high at the 
back and 6 feet at the front. 

How tight must the house be? 

Absolutely air-tight everywhere except in front. Your 
hens at night will be as far from the front as possible on 
their perches at the rear of the house. "Ventilation" is 
made to "cover a multitude of sins"— and cracks. You may 
have your entire front open wire-work from May 1 to No- 
vember 1 if you wish, but you must have the back abso- 
lutely tight so there can be no drafts of air on the backs of 
the hens or under them. 

How expensive need this house be? 

The lumber required is 700 feet of inch boards and 200 
feet of 2 by 4 studding. This will build your house com- 
plete, including roof, floor, and a droppings board the en- 
tire length of the house. In most places this lumber can be 
bought for twenty dollars. I should prefer to have the front 
boards planed so as to be painted. I insist on the droppings 
boards being the smoothest of flooring so they can be made 
both smooth and tight. All other siding may be of hemlock 



boards, and generally they cost no more if surfaced on one 
side. Put the smooth side in, it looks better, for you must 
cover the roof, ends and back with three-ply tarred paper. 
This must be carefully put on. Coat it with tar twice the 
first year, once every year after that, and it will be good and 
air tight for ten years. If you are handy with hatchet and 
saw the entire cost of your house, including windows and 
doors, need not exceed thirty dollars, or one dollar per hen. 
Herewith I give an illustration of the house we use. 
Ours are all 12 feet square, connected four, six or ten under 
one roof. In each compartment of 12 by 12 we keep twenty- 
four hens. We have over thirty of these compartments now 






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86-PLAN. AND PERSPECTIVE VIEW OF T. E. ORR'S 
FARM POULTRY HOUSE 



on Beaver Hill Farm and are building more. Although our 
roof is a little more expensive than the shed roof we describe 
for you, our cost is about the same — one dollar per hen. 

Please notice that at night our hens are all on their 
perches at the rear of the house; the roof, siding and drop- 
pings board being absolutely tight. They have no drafts of 
air and they have but a small volume of air about them to be 
heated by their bodies. If I were breeding Leghorns I 
should have a muslin drop curtain to be let down from the 
roof to the front edge of the droppings board on very cold 
nights. With Wyandottes we do not need this. We have 
never lost a comb or wattle in these houses, and we have no 
artificial heat. 



SCRATCHING SHED HOUSES 



57 



CURTAIN FRONT POULTRY HOUSE 

Cloth-Filled Frames take the Place of Glass Windows 
— A Pradlical House at Little Expense 

C. C. Grace 

SO MUCH has been said in regard to cheap and good 
poultry houses that there seems little more that 
can be said. We are trying to get the best with the 
least possible expense, and I think I have this fully 
embodied in my laying house, which I will describe as 
nearly as possible. 

My house is 105 feet long, 8 feet wide and 6 feet 6 inches 
high on the south side and 3 feet 6 inches on the north. It is 
covered with shiplap and Neponset paper. Eighteen inches 
from the floor is a platform .3 feet wide the entire length of the 
house. On this I place 2 by 4's crosswise and on them rest 
sassafras roosting poles. I use sassafras because chicken 
lice will not stay on this wood. These roosts are easily 
removed for cleaning off the droppings. Under the platform 
there are holes in the wall every 8 inches, through which the 
hens go to the nests, which are built on the outside of the 
house. These nests are 24 inches wide, 18 inches high on the 
low side and 24 inches high next the house, with a partition 
at each nest. They are covered by lids hinged to the house, 
each lid being 10 feet long and covered with roofing paper. 
This arrangement of nests I find very convenient, not having 
to disturb the hens in the house to gather the eggs. I' am 
never troubled with the hens eating the eggs, as the nests 
are dark, and as the hen enters the nest she cuts off all the 
light with her body. I have never lost an egg in this manner 
since adopting this plan for nests. 

For light and ventilation I have 10 windows, each .30 
inches wide aud 5 feet high. Two frames are made for each 
and covered with sheeting muslin. The top one is hinged at 
the top so it can be quickly raised and fastened to the roof 
with a hook. Every day in winter when not too stormy I 
raise the windows, thus giving the house a thorough venti- 
lation. I have never had a sick bird in this house, nor a 
frozen comb, and my fowls have pure fresh air at all times. 

I have an earth floor covered with 2 or 3 inches of coal 
slack. Nest boxes have a similar floor. I have yet to find 
the first hen louse in this place. 







«9 -PERSPECTIVE DRAWING AND NEST DETAILS OF CURTAIN FRONT HOUSE, 
DESIGNED BY C. C. GRACE 



This house will accommodate from 250 to 300 hens. The 
material for the house cost me less than $60. 

For a drinking fountain I use an old jug with a small 
hole m the side as large as a lead pencil, about X inch from 
the bottom. Set in a pan IX inches deep and don't forget 
to cork the jug. 



THE CURTAIN FRONT IN MARYLAND 

A Single Boarded Poultry House with Almo^ the 
Entire Front of Cloth 

In Which Single Comb Leghorns Prospered When the 

Mercury Stood at Zero 

R. B. Posey 

I HAVE read with interest the articles on houses that have 
appeared during the past few years, and am tempted to 
describe my plan of housing Single Comb White Leg- 
horns in this climate. The houses are built on the con- 
tinuous curtain front plan. The pens are 14 feet long by 12 
feet wide, 6 feet 6 inches high in front and 4 feet 6 inches at 
the back. 

Each pen has solid board partitions with a door in each 
partition. The side walls and back are of % inch boards 
with battens over the cracks. The roof is covered with two- 
ply felt. 

A platform to catch the droppings extends the entire 
length of the house at the back and two roosts are hung 
from rafters 15 inches above platform, 12 inches apart and 
12 inches from back wall. 

The nest boxes 'are placed on the front sill and extend 
outside with the entrances facing into the house. Except on 
very cold days and when the ground is covered with snow, 
the birds are fed their mash, water and grit outside, and I 
have the entire floor space for scratching. The floor is cov- 
ered deeply with straw, which is renewed when completely 
broken up. In the winter care must be taken to put in the 
fresh straw when it is thoroughly dry, as a lot of damp, froz- 
en stuff may cause trouble in your flock. 

The nest boxes are built with shed top, which turns the 
rain away from the house. 

There is a 4 foot space from the top 
of the nests to the boarding under eaves. 
The space is fitted with netting, and in 
the fall is covered with cotton sheeting. 
The door in front of each pen is 
made of 2 by 4 inch framing and is also 
"hovered with cotton cloth. These doors 
are hung to swing either way and on 
extra warm, open days are pushed in 
against the partitions, giving each house 
a good sunning and airing. 

The space in front of the house is 
also covered with straw and some grain 
is fed during the day in this. At night 
after the birds are settled on the roost, 
a light feed of wheat, oats or corn is 
buried in the straw in the houses, and 
this gives the birds something to hustle 
for next morning as soon as it is light. 
Their mash is fed warm about 8 o'clock 
in the morning, and finds the birds al- 
ready warmed up and ready for business. 



POULTRY HOUSES AND FIXTURES 



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90-PLAN. FRONT ELEVATION AND SECTIONAL VIEW SHOWING INTERIOR FIXTURES OF R. B. PUSEVS HOUSE 



I have had perfectly satisfactory results from this house 
during the three years I have used it. During each of the 
three winters we have had periods of really cold weather, 
withthe mercury around zero, and I have never had a frosted 
comb on either male or female. I find the extra heavy 
bedding of straw on floor makes the houses much more com- 
fortable. 

Each pen contains about 168 square feet of clear floor 
space and will accommodate 40 to 50 hens. During the past 
season I have carried 200 hens in three of these pens and 
have got an average egg yield of a little more than 110 per day. 

I neglected to state that a sliding door was fixed in each 
front door to allow birds exit on days when this door must 
be kept closed. A self-feeding bone box is placed on divis- 
ion sill in each pen and kept supplied with meat meal. The 
birds are very fond of this, and it costs less, is more easily 
handled, and gives as good results as green cut bone. 



When spring and summer come these low shed houses 
are very close and hot, but I remove the cotton cloth when 
all frost is out of the ground and have an open shed. 

The birds find these satisfactorj'. They give me no 
trouble by roosting in trees or on fences, etc., as they are 
apt to do when confined to the ordinary closed front house, 
which gets insufferably hot in the hot months. 

As the season of cooler weather approaches, roosts 
should be placed in the roosting coops and fronts of burlap 
should be put in place on cold and stormy nights. Sitting 
upon the damp ground or in drafty coops predisposes the 
chicks to colds and rheumatism and often affects the health 
and productiveness of the birds during the following winter. 

(By having the curtains stretched on light wood frames, 
hinged at the top to turn up against the rafters or capable 
of being easily removed, the house could be better ventilated 
on warm days during the winter season.) 



CURTAIN FRONT HOUSE 

A Poultry House with the Entire Front of Cloth and 
a Curtained Roo^ng Apartment 

F. E. De Muth 

THIS is a modified scratching shed roosting coop plan 
for a house 8 feet high in front and 6 at rear, with 
pens 12 by 12 feet. The sills are 2 by 4 inch rough 
pine. The sheathing is sec- 
ond quality hemlock planed on one 
side, free from knot holes. This is to 
be used for the ends, back and 2 feet - 
of the front — 1 foot at the bottom 
and 1 foot at the top. 

The rear wall, supposed to be on 
the north, is lined with tongued and 
grooved flooring, above the droppings 
board, which is of the same mate- 
rial. The ceiling over the droppings 



board is also lined with flooring and the roosts can be 
enclosed on cold nights by a drop curtain of oiled cloth. 

The roof, back and ends are to be covered with two-ply 
asphalt roofing, cemented at the laps. This makes an abso- 
lutely wind proof building. This roofing requires painting 
every five years. I would paint it a light color, using a 
"cold water" paint. 

The front of wire netting, with 1 inch mesh and a pro- 
tecting curtain, is hung from under the roof outside of wire 
arranged to be raised and lowered like the curtain on the 




CONSTRUCTION OF PARTITIONS IN F. E. DE MUTH'S POULTRY HOUSE 



SCRATCHING SHED HOUSES 



5£> 



stage in a theater. The droppings 

board is tongued and grooved stuff 

placed like a shelf (easily removable) 

2 feet above the ground on floor. 

Under it are the nest boxes, loose and 

movable. The hens enter the nests 

from the rear of each nest. Eggs can 

be gathered from front by swinging 

a board hung on leather hinges. The 

roosting apartment is, as will be seen, 

double walled with a 4 inch dead air 

space between and the during winter 

is completely enclosed by curtains. 

The heat from 10 to 20 hens in this apartment at night 

will prevent freezing of combs and the chilliness harmful to . 

laying hens. The partition between the roosting places is 

solid; balance of partition between the pens is wire, above a 
' baseboard 2 feet 

high, though I 
should prefer, in 
a long continuous 
house, to have one 
solid partition in 
every four. In 
every second par- 
tition I have a 
large pan, say 15 
inches in diameter 
and 5 inches deep, 
for water foi two 
pens. Flooring is 

not considered, but is left to individual opinion as to 

which sort of floor is best. Doors between pens are hung on 

spring hinges and are wide enough so that a wheelbarrow or 

garden cart can be wheeled from pen to pen. Doors between 

the pens and the yards can be built if desired. 



Cti rfa 



■ - ^.^:»7^:>»»»0)!!iy/^.)^<^e^^e'i^^^ 



1f^ 



94-DETAlL OF CURTAIN IN THE FRONT OF HOUSE DESIGNED BY F. E. DE MUTH 




92- 



-SECTIONAL VIEW OF F. E. DEMUTH'S 
POULTRY HOUSE 



A VILLAGE POULTRY HOUSE 

A House with Curtained Doors and Rooms Located 
at Front— Co^ of Material $15 

Adolph Stuth 

MY POULTRY building, which is something like the 
cloth front house at the Maine Experiment Station, 
is 10 by 12 feet, 6 feet high in front and 5 at the 
rear. The frame is buit of small scantling and 
covered with 1 inch flooring. It required about 500 feet of 
lumber to build and equip this house with roost platforms, 
etc., making the total cost for material, including roofing 

felt to cover the 
roof, about $15. 

This house can 
be divided through 
the center by a 
partition, to ac- 
commodate two 
small flocks if de- 
sired. 

All windows 
and doors are 
placed in the front 
side, which should 
face south, to avoid 



'■^r 



93- 



END ELEVATION OF ADOLPH STUTH'S 
HOUSE SHOWING 
LOCATION OF ROOST PLATFORM 



i. J 



^s 






drafts and let in the most sunlight. 

Two doors, each 2 feet wide, occupy the middle part of 
he front and two windows each containing four lights of 
glass are placed one on each side of the doors. 

The doors contain openings of considerable size filled 
with wire netting, through which the air passes freely ia 
warm weather. In cold weather these openings are covered 
with heavy cotton cloth. They may be filled with glass, but 
then the ventilating effect of the curtained front would be 
lost. 

The roost platforms and roosts, instead of being placed 
against the back of the pen, are built against the front, just 
under the w i n - 

dows, on each , 20- , 

side of the doors. 
On that account 
the windows are 
placed high up, 
near the roof. As 
the birds roost 
near the glass, they 
should be protec- 
ted from the cold 
that gets through 
it at night by shut- 
ters which fit 

closely over the windows on the outside or by heavy curtains 
which completely cover the glass on the inside. 

The birds may be thoroughly protected when on the 
roost by curtains which hang from the under side of the roof 
boards to just below the roost platforms; but the curtains 
should be raised when the birds are off the roosts to allow 
the sunlight to enter the house. 

The sun dries and in a measure disinfects the roosting 
apparatus every morning and its rays reach the extreme 
back of the pen, where the birds are kept busy scratching 
for grain. 

The nests may be located under the platform or hung 
upon the sides of the pen. 



A CHEAP POULTRY HOUSE 

It is Sugge^ed for Use on a Small Lot Where the 
Birds Cannot be Turned Out 



95-PLAN OF POULTRY HOUSE DESIGNEI> 
BY A. E, SEWELL 



A. E. Sewell 

HE poultry house illustrated herewith has the advan- 
tage of being warm in winter arid cool in summer. 
It can be built cheaply, as only a small part need 
be double boarded. In the plan the double lines 
show where the' house is to be double boarded and the single 
lines indicate that a single wall only is necessary. The long 



T 



€0 



POULTRY HOUSKS AND FIXTURES 



TTT 



dash lines indicate where wire can be 
used. 

The principal part of this house is 
the scratching shed, which occupies 
practically all the floor space. The 
roosting room is merely a kind of closet 
or cupboard with the droppings board 
as a floor. A horizontal swinging door 
hinged to the ceiling comes down flush 
with the front edge of the droppings 
board. This you will note, makes a 
very snug little roosting place 2 feet 
from the floor and 2 feet wide. It 
has one roost, which will accommodate 
10 or 12 hens of the American class, 
■which is the number the house is intend- 
ed to hold per pen. The door between. 
the pens, shown in 111. 96, should not 

be made so high that it will interfere with the horizontal 
door when the latter is hooked to the ceiling. It will 
be better to have a solid partition between the roosting 
rooms and it should extend out 3 feet. The bottom of the 
partition between the two scratching sheds should be solid 
and the upper part 
may be made of 
^ire. 

The space un- 
derneath the drop- 
pings board need 
not be double 
boarded, although 
it would be better 
if it were. A ven- 
tilator should be 
placed on the hor- 
izontal door. This 
is made on the 
pHnciple of the 
draft of a stove. 

The nest may be placed under the droppings board with 
the open side next to the rear wall and with a hinged back 
that can be let down to gather the eggs. 

Frames with canvas.tacked on should be hung on the 



mP' 












































\\ 




■ ", - ■ 


/.' 



I I I 



rfAl S-4£ ^Si .As Srtf Lt=. =.^ 




98-FRONT ELEVATION OF POULTRY HOUSE DESIGNED BY ADOLPH STUTH 



inside of the house in winter and outside in summer. When 
on the outside they can be fixed as awnings to keep the sun 
out, but to let in the air. In this house the temperature can 
be regulated according to the weather. On a fall night when 
it is too cold to let the house be wide open, the canvass 
curtains can be let down and the swinging door left wholly 
or partly up. This house is as cool as any shed in the sum- 
mer time. 



A NEW "ROOSTING-COOP" HOUSE 

A Poultry House With the RooSting Pen in the 

Center, and Ne^s, Feed Boxes and 

Water Along the Rear Wall 



96-VIEW 5HOWING CONSTRUCTION OF 

PARTITION. ROOST. PLATFORM 
AND CURTAIN IN A. E. SEWELL'S HOUSE 



M' 




97-INTERIOR OF MR WAITS ROOSTING COOP HOUSE. 



Shewing the roosting pen in cfenter and the nestB, feed boxes and water fountain on a 
platform at the rear wall 



Harris B. Waite 

new sanitary roosting coop house contains the fol- 
lowing arrangements, which may not be new, but 
as I have never seen them in print or in use, will 
describe them. It is an ordinary double roof, 
house built in 20 foot sections. The width is 15 feet, the 
height at plates, 6 feet and the height at ridge board, 8 feet 
6 inches. The roosting box runs parallel 
to the ridge board and directly under it. 
This box is 2 feet 6 inches wide and 4 
feet high; it is 2 feet above the ground. 
The double line of roosts is one foot 
above the bottom of the box. Two 
feet 6 inch spaces are left at the ends to 
pass around it. 

The ends and sides are provided 
with curtains, (burlap) which in sum- 
mer are not used, but one or more may 
be let down in the winter according to 
the severity of the weather. Only on 
the very coldest nights, however, are all 
the curtains lowered. On top of the box 
are pens partitioned off with wire net- 
ting, used for sitting hens, extra cock 
birds, etc. 

The advantages of this arrangement 
are three-fold. First: more comfortable 
in summer, by having a circulation of 
air all around both lines of roosts. 
Second: warmer in winter, because the 
fowls are away from the cold north 



SCRATCHING SHED HOUSES 



61 



wall. Third: easier to clean and keep free from vermin. 

The nests, water fountains, grit, shell and ground grain 
hoppers are on a platform, running along the north wall. 
This platform is 2 feet wide and 2 feet from the ground. This 
gives all the floor space for scratching ground. 

The south wall of the house is principally doors and 
windows. In the summer these doors may be lifted off the 
hinges and the windows opened, resulting in an almost open 



shed. In winter the doors are hung, and may be battened 
down if desired. The windows remain open except at night 
and during storms. The roof, sides and ends are covered 
with good quality of matched boards. The ends and north 
side are lined on the inside with heavy building paper, well 
battened down. The roof is covered with flintkote, dressed 
with three coats of paint. 

The house is well planed and is successful. 



JBon't Jfear Jfresilj ^ir 

Thorough Ventilation of Poultry Houses Necessary at All Times and Particularly Desirable in Cold 

Weather— Does Your Poultry House "Sweat?" — Then It Needs 

Airing or It is Overcrowded 

P. T. Woods, M. D. 



HOW shall I ventilate my poultry building? What is the 
best kind of ventilation for a poultry house? These 
are questions that are, in one form or another, asked 
many hundreds of times during the year. The an- 
swer is plain enough and so simple that it is a wonder that it 
did not appear to the interrogator. 

Ventilate your poultry house in the same manner that 
you would your bed room, i. e.— by opening the doors and 
windows. Don't use special ventilating devices; they are 
dangerous. 

Ventilating devices are dangerous because they are liable 
to create draughts, because they are usually open when they 
should be closed and vice versa. All ventilating devices ad- 
mit a draught or thin stream of cold air. This thin stream 
of cold air flows through the warmer air of the house just as 
a muddy stream of water flows into a pond. The distance it 
travels all depends on the force of the current and it often 
travels a long distance before becoming blended or diffused. 
With a stream of cold air, a draught, flowing into a comfort- 
ably warm house, this means disaster to the occupants wher- 
ever it strikes. It is less dangerous by day when the fowls 
are busy than at night when the birds are quiet on the roosts, 
but at all times a draught in the poultry house may result in 
serious colds, laying the foundation for roup and other ser- 
ious ailments. No, so-called, ventilating device, other than 
a door or window, has been invented to date that will not 
create a draught, a disease-promoting, thin stream of 
cold air. 

No such danger need be feared from the admittance of a 
volume of fresh outdoor air to the poultry house by means 
of an open door or window, provided these openings are so 
situated that a direct cold air current does not sweep through 
the house. Common sense must be used even in admitting a 
volume of fresh air, since to create an artifical wind-storm 
inside the house is to invite disaster. 

Windows Should Face South 

The windows of the poultry house, and all ventilating 
doors should be located in the south front of the poultry 
house. All windows should be made to open at the top and 
bottom or so arranged on hinges that the entire window can 
be thrown open at will. 

Don't be afraid of fresh air when supplied in large vol- 
ume with freedom from direct draughts. With the openings 
all in the south front and the fowls protected on three sides 
by tight walls,— both sides, back and a tight roof— there is no 



danger. Such windows and doors can be opened wide for a 
large part of every day throughout the year and with most 
gratifying results. Make your poultry houses reasonably 
tight — as tight as you can on the east, west and north sides, — 
and then depend on your south windows and doors for ven- 
tilation. From May until October in nearly all sections of the 
country the windows in such a house should be kept wide 
open both day and night. When cold weather comes keep 
these south windows open for a part of every day. 

On cold, windy, cloudy or stormy days, keeping the win- 
dows open for half an hour to an hour twice a day while the 
fowls are feeding may answer well enough in some locations 
but the writer prefers to keep the windows open as long as it 
is convenient to do so. On sunny winter days the windows 
should remain wide open as long as the sun shines in them. 

As to ventilation of a close house at night during cold 
weather much depends upon the building. Ordinarily enough 
air will find its way in around the windows and doors to 
answer all purposes if the house is well aired during the day. 
In houses more than 20 feet long and 12 feet or less in width 
it will be advisable to keep the windows closed at night un- 
less built on the hip roof plan with low open fronts. In 
houses that are 14 to 16 feet wide with the roosts in the rear 
of house or provided with sheltered roosts it is often a wise 
plan to leave the window in the front of the pen open just a 
little way up at the top. In every case it will be necessary 
for the poultryman to use good judgement. Fowls can't 
close the windows. Conditions that would be safe during 
the day or night when you leave the fowls might easily 
change suddenly during the night and expose your roosting 
birds to discomfort. Therefore, unlfess the houses are spec- 
iafly constructed with open fronts it will usually be well to 
close the windows tightly at niglit in winter weather. 

A Pradlical Te^ 

During one exceptionally severe vsdnter in eastern 
Massachusetts there were not more than two or three 
days that the south vrindows of mj' poultry buildings 
did not remain wide open from daylight until dark. I 
never had a sick bird during- the entire winter and the 
egg yield v?as excellent, better than the majority of 
breeders in the same section were able to obtain, while 
the exceptional fertility and fine hatches obtained were 
most gratifying-. 

Two pens of breeders were housed in an ordinary poultry 
house -with windows to the south. The windows of this 



62 



POULTRY HOUSES AND FIXTURES 



house were seldom closed, all winter, until after dark and 
wei'e always thrown wide open at daylight each morning. 

Two other pens were Kept in small portable houses 
of the shed-roof type, 6 by 8 feet, and with water-proofed 
muslin fronts. No glass in these portable houses, just 
an entire front, 6 by. 7 feet, of muslin broken only by 
the thin wooden strips used for door frames. The walls 
of these buildings are % inch matched pine, painted, 
but not covered with a sheathing material. The roof is 
% inch pine covered with a roofing fabric. The floor is 
g'ravel raised a few inches above ground level and cov- 
ered with straw. 

Water will freeze in these houses any day when the 
temperature lall.s below 20 degrees above zero oxitside. 
The fowls roost on perches placed over a droppings 
board 2 feet 6 inches from the floor and the front roost 
is but a little more than five feet back from the muslin 
front of the house. An average of 15 binis were kept in 




99-WOODS' OPENAIR POULTRY HOUSE 

Experimental building in actual use on a Massachusetts farm. Illustration shows east side and 
south front. The litter in the house did not become damp and required renewal less often than in 
any other types used. This photograph was taken immediately after a hea\-y snow storm. It will 
be noted that very little snow remained on the south slope of the roof, and that is beginning to melt 
away in front of the windows. For description see page67. 

■each of these 6 by 8 portable houses all of last winter. 
The muslin door was thrown open every day for as long 
«, time as possible, the front being protected by poultry 
wire only. The door was only closed during the day 
■when it stormed hard and blew directly into the front 
of the house. At night with the door closed the air 
could work in through the entire muslin front. The 
birds appeared to be comfortable at all times, were sel- 
dom out of the house during the entire winter as they 
were only allowed out on bare ground, and during the 
most of the time the house was surrounded bj- deeji 
snow. 

Egg Yield and Fertility Good 
From these birds, all White Wyandottes, bred for 
health, the egg yield was exceptionally good and never, 
Irom November 1st, until March 1st, dropped below 50 
per cent, in spite of extremely cold and variable 
weather. 



These portable houses were located in one of the 
most windy places in eastern Massachusetts, and the 
temperature last winter varied from 60 degrees above to 
20 degrees below zero, often going the full range in 
forty-eight hours and from dead calm to high wind in 
the same time. 

During January and February eggs from the birds 
in these small, practically open portable houses, aver- 
.aged from 90 to 95 per cent strongly fertile and gave 
most excellent hatches of strong, sturdy, healthy chicks. 
Most of these chicks were reared out of doors in Febru- 
ary and March with no other protection than that af- 
forded by an individual outdoor brooder and made a 
highly satisfactory record. 

Use Fresh Air Sensibly 
Some persons who witnessed this experiment, — for 
the test was made with a view to seeing just what the 
result of such treatment would be — 
asked me why I did not return to the 
old method of letting the fowls roost 
in the trees if fresh air was what 
was desired. Such a question is 
scarcely worth an answer because it 
shows that the one who asks speaks 
without first giving thought to the 
subject. 

There is a wide difference be- 
tween fowls roosting in the open, on 
trees and fences, and those protected 
by a roof and surrounded by tight 
walls on three sides. It is just the 
difference between discomfort and 
comfort. You can't get good results 
from uncomfortable fowls. The birds 
are well protected vsdth a heavy coat 
of feathers and if g'iven reasonable 
protection from the weather and 
plenty of fresh air, to supply the 
life giving oxygen needed for heat 
production within their bodies, they 
vnl\ be comfortable. Fowls roosting 
in the trees in the winter are often 
miserable and objects of pity, but 
some of the most miserable speci- 
mens I have ever seen have been 
those cooped up in tight houses 
(never aired except as the attendant 
goes in and out of the door), that 
are sweat boxes when the sun shines and reservoirs of 
cold, damp, deathly chilling foul air at night or on 
cloudy days. Such quarters will breed sickness and 
losses greater than any ever experienced by the farmer 
who lets his birds range and roost where they will. 

What "House Sweating" Means 
When a poultry house "sweats," when dampness con- 
denses on the walls and forms as frost or drips down 
upon the occupants, it is a sure sign that the house is 
not aired often enough or that you have over-rated the 
capacity of the building and have too many fowls in it. 

You can keep more birds with safety in a well-aired 
building than in one that is kept tightly closed. For this 
reason, from a standpoint of economy of house room, if 
for no other reason, the necessity of thoroughly airing 
the pf)u]trv buildings should appeal to everyone. 

A plentiful supply of fresh air is necessary to health. 
A damp, ill-ventilated building means disease, debility, 



SCRATCHING SHED HOUSES 



63 



and often that scourge, contag-ious catarrh, familiarly 
known as roup. 

Do You Take Time to Think ? 

At one of the meetings of the poultry associatior 
last winter the subject of fresh air came up for discus- 
sion. Several members who use closed houses that are 
seldom opened up were asked, — 

"What do you do when birds get colds and catarrh?" 

The answer was practically the same in each case 
-and in siibstance was: — 

"It doesn't pay to bother to doctor them; if they get 
-colds or roup we just chuck them out in an open shack 
or shed and let them shift for themselves. Just feed and 
water them and let them go." 

Q. "Do many die?" was asked. 

A. "No, most of them get well and go back to the 
pens in a few weeks." 

Q. Then why don't you open up the houses and let 
in the fresh air to prevent disease, if it cures the sick 
birds?" 



A. "Never thought of it in that way." 

Now that is just what is the matter with a great 
many poult r\' keepers. They have "never thought of it 
that way." J f every man who keeps hens and reads a 
poultry paper would absorb what he reads, think a little, 
and try to reason logically from what he reads about the 
experience of others, there would be a lot less work for 
those who conduct "questions and answers departments" 
to do, and the results obtained from the poultry would 
show a decided improvement. Read, think and reason; 
just use good, sound common sense. If you want healthy, 
vigorous birds that will produce strong-germed eggs you 
must not neglect them. They need a variety of whole- 
some food, pure water, comfortable quarters and plenty 
of fresh air and sunlight. 

Don't fear fresh air. Thorough ventilation of poultry 
houses is necessary at all times. You can have it all the 
time during the warm season by taking out the windows 
and leaving them out. In cold weather you .should not 
neglect this important matter; keep the houses well 
aired and air them daily. 




• ^ ■ ■ I II iiM 



100— TOLMAN'S FI^SH-AIR POULTRY HOUSE 

Left— An early type of house used by Mr. Tolman. Right— The same house in process of remodeling into the Fresh-Air House 



Jfregf)=^ir ?|ougmg for ^oultrp 

THE TWENTIETH CENTURY FRESH-AIR HOUSE 



A House that is Run Wide Open Summer and Winter, Storm or Sunshine — Cool in Summer, Warm in 

Winter — No Dampness— Prevents Disease — Promotes Health, Vigor and a Good Egg Yield 

Fertility Increased — Specifications with an E^mate of the Probable Co^ 

, Joseph Tolman 



HAVING given the proper housing of poultry deep 
thought for many years, it led lue to building what 
I call my Twentieth Century Fresh-Air Poultry House 
which is fully illustrated herewith. 
The frtsh-air house is a very simple one to construct as 
will be seen by noting the photographic views and plans. It 
is a plain hip-roofed building with a long pitch of the roof to 
the front or south. The roof and closed sides are one-inch 
boards shingled, making a tight roof and east, west and 



is where it differs from other fresh air plans. The house is 
run wide open in front both night and day, storm or shine, 
all the year round. A gate is provided in this wire front to 
give the birds access to the yard. 

Every now and then I read with much interest what dif- 
ferent writers have to say about what and how you should 
feed your poultry and how to cure roup, tuberculosis and 
various other contagious diseases. It they would only build 
fresh air houses or remodel their old ones as I am doing, I 




101 -WHITE PLYMOUTH ROCK BREEDERS IN THE FRESH-AIR HOUSE 



north walls. The eaves are about 4 feet from the ground and 
the peak of the roof is a little over 7 feet. The house is 8 
feet wide by 14 feet long, and has a window in the center of 
the west side and a door in the center of the east side direct- 
ly opposite the window. In operating this house in summer 
both the door and window are removed and replaced with 
wire netting. The south front is always open, being closed 
in by 1-inch wire mesh netting only. This part of the house 



can earnestly say that I believe they would never have con- 
tagious diseases and their fowls would be hardy, strong and 
healthy, capable of supplying strong fertile eggs the year 
round and plenty of them. The first of last September I was 
offered $400 for 200 Light Brahma pullets, utility stock. I 
feel that this is a good indorsement for the fresh air housing 
which they have had. 

Don't think because you live in Canada or in any other 



FRESH AIR HOUSES 



66 



cold place where the temperature is way below zero that 
you cannot adopt this system. These are just the places 
where it is most needed. Also, where the climate has a 
tendency to be damp and foggy, because an open house is 
always dry. The fresh air keeps the birds warm and it is 
a place where dampness can never gather. 

For those who are using' the Tolman House in ex- 
ceptionally bleak, cold locations, I recommend the use of 
a coarse, unbleachel muslin curtain immediately in front 
of the roosts. The location of the roosts in my improved 
houses gives an excellent opportunity to place this cur- 
tain in front of same so that it can be operated conven- 
iently, and thus insuring the best results in the coldest 
climate in America. The muslin curtain should be loosely 
tacked upon a light wooden ffame, the frame being hung 
with hinges from the front roof directly in front of the 
ends of the two side roosts and should extend no lower 
than the droppings board. During the day when not in 
use, the curtain can be fastened up to the roof out of the 
way by means of a wooden button conveniently placed. 
If, on the last visit to the house at night, the attendant 
thinks that the temperature is going to be many degrees 
below zero, the curtain may be dropped. My advice is 
never to use the curtain except in the most extreme cold 
weather when the temperature is zero or below. I prefer 
to place the curtain in front of the roosts rather than in 
the front part of the house, for if used as I advise it 
more animal heat is retained and practically the same 
amount of fresh air reaches the birds, owing to the ar- 
rangement of the roosts and dropboards and the position 
of the curtain or muslin screen. 

I believe that those who built the house in cold cli- 
mates, from the dimensions 8 by 12 feet that were first 
published, and were dissatisfied with the results obtained, 
would now find that they will get entirely satisfactory re- 
sults by adapting the building to the improved type and 
using the muslin curtain. If the house is to be located 
in a very bleak, wind}' place on the side of a mountain. 1 
should advise usipg one-half or one-quarter-inch mesh 
wire netting in place of one-inch mesh, as much less snow 
vyill blow into the building. In the large-sized prac- 
tical Tolman House it will be necessary to make the cur- 
tain in two parts. 

Specifications and Probable Cost of House 

The plans given herewith are for the "Tolman Twen- 
tieth Century Fresh-Air Poultry House" for either chicks 
or laying hens, dimensions 8 by 14 feet. The approximate 
cost of material for same would be $20.00. 

300 sq. ft. hemlock boarding No. 1 at $32.00 per M..$ 6.60 
40 running ft. 2x4 joist; 157 running feet 2x3 joist 

105 feet, at $28.00 per M 2.04 

One window, 7x9 95 

Window frame for same 70 

114 M. $3.00 grade .shingles to be laid 5 in. for roof. . 3.75 
IVsM. $2.50 grade shingles laid in. for sides 3.95 

Total $18.89 

Extras 1.11 



$20.00 



With this material you can build a first class house, 
nothing cheap about it. The same, when finished, will 
accommodate thirty-five to forty Light Brahma layers 
with three males. At least this is the number I am hous- 
ing. When you consider the cost, you must stop to think 
that a house of this style \vill accommodate at least twice 
as many as the closed style or burlap front would. 



Larger House on Same Plan Recommended 

From observations I have made I am sure that the 
most practical and economical house will be one about 
half as large again, or I would have my dimensions 14 
feet viade by 21 feet deep with 6 feet posts on the north 
end, 4 feet 6 inch posts on the south end and a large win- 
dow in the west side. The highest part of the roof would 
be about 10 feet from the ground. You would then have 
a house, ideal for all kinds of weather and locations, that 
would accommodate from 65 to 80 layers, according to the 
breed, and from four to five males, at a very small cost 
over the figures given for the 8 by 14 feet house; thus 
bringing the cost of my house much lower than the av- 
erage house of today. 

With the larger house I would suggest placing direct- 
ly in the center, running north and south, a board parti- 
tion 2 feet 6 inches high. This will induce extra exercise 
by the birds hopping over the partition. This partition 
divides the flock, thus helping the fertility through pre- 
venting interference of the males. 

A great many poultrymen with whom I have talked, 
admit that the oolonj' system of housing breeders is the 
best; yet, they argue, that it is much easier to take care 
of the continuous house system; therefore they prefer 
it. This is where they make their mistake. Let me ex- 
plain. Suppose we have a 100 foot building, 14 feet wide, 
with ten partings. Under the old system each parting 
will accommodate not over 20 fowls and you have ten 
partings to water and feed every day in order to care for 
200 birds. Now we will see what we can do with the 
fresh-air housing of poultry on the colony system. It 
will take three houses 14 by 21 feet to accommodate the 
flock of 20 hens, thus you would have only three houses 
to water and feed. 

We must all admit that much better yards can be had 
with the fresh-air colonj- system than ^vith the continu- 
ous house, and you will find with my system you will 
need these yards in winter almost as much as in sum- 
mer. Always keep the snow shoveled from a small place 
in front of the house as you will find this will help the 
fertility of the eggs. The fowls enjoy being out doors. 

Furthermore I believe all sides but the south should 
be made warm and tight, and this should be left entirely 
open with no curtain in front of birds on roosts. Then 
you will have what I call a warm fresh-air house. 

Stronger, Hardier Fowls — Better Fertility 

Some writers have claimed that they could not per- 
ceive any difference in the quantity of food consumed 
whether the fowls were kept in open or closed houses. I 
must admit I can see quite a, little difference. Why? 
The fowls are in the best of physical condition all the 
time, breathing a larger amount of oxygen, thus creating 
a better circulation of blood; therefore burning up more 
fuel in the line of food stuff. What we get in return is a 
much larger egg yield with better fertility. There is no 
better indorsement for the fertility of fresh-air eggs than 
to state that a leading poultry supply house in Boston 
practically handled the entire amount of my output last 
season and have engaged them for the present season. 
^Vhat better indorsement do we want for the radical 
fresh-air system? 

Is it not better to have a house so constructed that it 
can be left open all the time? I have never yet seen the 
closed house that man could regulate with any safety. 
He is either having the window opened or closed at the 
wrong time. When I leave my fowls at night I never 
have to think whether my house is opened or closed too 
much. I know that it is just the same all the time. 



66 



POULTRY HOUSES AND FIXTURES 



125 To 150 Chickens Housed In One Flock 

You will notice the photo of my house with chickens. 
This house accommodates from 125 to 150 chickens destined 
for the fancy South Shore roasting trade which begins in 
March and lasts until July. These chickens were placed in 
-the houses the 1st of November, which houses will be run 
entirely open all winter. In the spring when they are 
matured they will be much heavier and better in quality than 
if they had been kept in closed houses. Practically they will 
be immune from all contagious diseases and in justice to the 




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103-TOLMANS FRESH-AIR POULTRY HOUSE 

1— Plan, location of rooat platform, also nests clearly shown. 
2— East end showing location of door and studs. 
3— West end, showing location of window and studs. 
4 — North, or rear wall— location of studs. 

5— Drawing of the front, enclosed with 1-inch mesh wire netting, 
small fowl entrance and location of studs. 

producer these chickens should bring from 2 to 4 cents per 
lb. more than the ordinary fancy chickens because tbey are 
much better in quality. I believe we should all aim for 
quality, not quantity. 

The house will receive chicks from the brooder at any 
time through the winter by using a board to close up all but 
about 6 inches of the front the first few nights they are put 



in. Then if the weather is mild, take it away and run the 
entire south end open. You will be surprised to find how 
warm this house is when you step inside on a cold day. 

What the Open House has Done 

I will now tell you what the open house has done for the 
vitality of my poultry. Believing that improper housing has 
had a great deal to do with weakening the vitality, the most 
important element, is what practically led me to the develop- 
ment of my open front system. Four years ago I noticed a 
weakness among the chickens hatched. They seemed to be 
lacking in vitality and I decided the best thing to do was to 
give my breeders more air. This I proceeded at once to do. 
The results were phenominal. I had much better fertility, 
the chickens when hatched were strong and vigorous and my 
flock of breeders had lots of vigor and vitality. This good 
work has kept right on improving for the last three years. I 
have no difficulty in getting a fertility of 80 to 90 per cent in 
Light Brahma eggs which are now testing 88 per cent. 
White Plymouth Rocks are testing from 90 to 96 per cent fertile. 

Fresh Air Facts and Pointers 

Open your window and door after the first of May, or 
earlier, according to the weather. Close them after the first 
of November. 

Never place a screen or any other protection in front of 
roost, as this defeats the purpose of the open front. 

When the snow blows the hardest, go home at night 
feeling easy. Make up your mind that whenever the storm 
clears you will be able to shovel the snow out in a few min- 
utes and when the sun comes out it will shine directly into 
the house, drying the scratching litter readily. I hope you 
will all gain confidence from my experience. I feel sure snow 
is a good tonic for poultry kept in open houses. 

Keep plenty of good scratching litter in the house all the 
time. 

For forty hens two fair-sized grocery boxes make good 
nests, large enough for two or three hens to lay in at once, 
thus being less exposed to chilling. 

Keep the eggs gathered at short intervals in the cold 
days if they are to be used for incubation. There is no 
place in the poultry business for a lazy man. 

Don't try to make a fresh-air house, as I have seen some 
do, out of a shed roof house. You will lose what you want 
most and retain that which you least want. I mean by this, 
the warmth radiated by your poultry, rising, escapes through 
the opening above. The carbonic acid gas, leaving the birds 
as they breathe, falls to the floor, forming a most deadly gas. 
In my house this gas is easily diffused and carried away and 
the warmth is retained. 

I am positive that it is the 14 by 21 foot house that 
should be used in certain localities where the snow blows and 
blizzards are frequent. 

Don't worry if the water freezes. I am no believer in 
warmed water for poultry. I consider this merely a fad. 
Use galvanized iron pails; then you can easily break out 
the ice. 

This is the only right house for the fancier as his birds 
are always in the best of physical condition with a very clean 
and glossy plumage at all times. 

I believe it is the only house that can be used on heavy 
and wet Idnd with success as the moisture rising from the 
land has no' chance to gather in the building. 

In closing let me say to all who adopt this system that 
I hope it will give to them as it has to me "better poultry 
and more of it". 



PRESH AIR HOUSES 



67 



WOODS' OPEN-AIR POULTRY HOUSE 

Practical Semi- Monitor-Top Open-Front Building 

for Cold Climates 

P. T. Woods, M. D. 

THIS house we believe combines all the essentials of 
an open-air house. The front is open nig-ht and 
flay. Sunlight reaches all parts of it on sunny 
days and there is sufficient sun in the rear of the 
house to keep the droppings board quite dry. Litter 
in this house does not become damp. In severe 
weather water does not freeze as quickly as in a 
closed building of same dimensions and with same 
size flock. There is no dampness or frost and the house 
is always comfortable. It is comfortably warm in winter 



The plans given herewdth are for an open-air house 
ten feet wide by fourteen feet deep to cost about $35.00 
complete at present prices of lumber in the East. This 
cost estimate does not include expense of a board or ce- 
ment lloor if such is desired. A 10x14 ft. house will ac- 
commodate 35 layers and may be used satisfactorily for 
smaller flocks of from 12 to 25 breeders. The plans are 
for a colony house but same may be considered as first 
section of a continuous house if desired, but if built for a 
continuous house will be more desirable if made 16 feet 
deep instead of 14. Partitions in continuous house should 
be solid from floor to roof boards. In making the deeper 
house the depth should be given to the rear section. 

Building Instructions— Plate I. 

The hou.se should be located on dry, well-drained land, 
and should face south or a little east of south. Twelve 





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PLATE I-GROUND OR FLOOR PLAN, WOODS" OPEN-AIR POULTRY HOUSE 
Showing Plan of Furnishing. Position of Sills. Studs, Roosts and Drop Boards. 



and with windows ojjen is cool in summer. It supplies 
fresh open air all the time and the fowls are always com- 
fortable. No curtains are ever used. The open front is 
closed only by a screen of one-quarter inch square mesh 
galvanized wire netting such as is used for cellar windows 
and to cover factory windows. This wire screen breaks 
drafts and will keep out snow in all ordinary locations. 
Never use curtains to keep out snow. If the location is 
one where blizzards are common and hard driving wind 
storms prevail, use a finer mesh screen of heavy wire. 
Keep the wire free from dust or wet packed snow by 
brushing with a broom. This house is intended for nor- 
thern climates where winters are severe and for use in 
all sections where freezing or zero weather is common in 
winter. 



posts are needed, five for each side and one in center of 
each end. Post holes should be made three feet and posts 
should be well tamped to make them firm. Sills of 4x4 in. 
stock are laid level on top of posts and spiked to them. 
Ends are halved to match sill joints. 

Plate I shows ground or floor plan drawn to scale 
To determine dimensions of any part of drawings lay a 
strip of cardboard on scale and mark to correspond. 
This card rule laid on plan will give dimensions in feet. 
Floor plan shows position of sills, studs, window and 
door. Location and size of droppings board and roosts 
are also shown. Nest is placed with entrance at drop 
board level (3 ft. above top of sill). Food hopper and 
water pail are at convenient height lor fowls. We pre- 
fer to place them high and to make a slatted platform 



68 



POULTRY HOUSES AND FIXTURES 



in front of each for fowls to fly up to. This keeps food 
and water up out of litter and dirt. It also leaves more 
free floor si)ace as floor beneath platform is open and 
available. If rear section is made two feet deeper, mak- 
ing whole house 16 ft. deep it will give room for one 
more roost and give a capacity of 40 layers for winter 
or 30 for summer, fowls confined to house or with only 
small yard. Nest is single bos 12x24 in. inside measure, 
is open at north end only and has shed-roof hinged 
cover. With more than 25 fowls a second nest should 
be supplied. (To make a large colony house of this type 
make floor dimensions 14 ft. wide by 20 ft. deep. Highest 
point of roof should be 10 ft. and rear section should be 
12 feet deep. Make front section 8 ft. deep and same 



section use clean oat straw litter. This house may be 
made with sand or gravel floor only, filled in to top of 
sill. We would prefer a cement or concrete floor (rat 
proof) to bottom of sill and then filled in with sand and 
litter to top of sill. Sand and litter to be renewed as 
often as needed. 

After sills are laid studs should be placed in position 
and nailed to sills. Plates are spiked to top of studs 
after making sure to have them plumb. Rafters are 
lightly notched to engage plate as shown in plan (Plate 
II). Side boards should be put on in horizontal position 
and should be covered with good roofing fabric. Roof 
boards lay east and west. Joints of sides with roof 
should be flush and smooth. Roofing fabric for sides 




COPVRIGMr 1909. 

RCLIA8LE POUCTRV JOURNAL PUB. CO 

QUINCV, tLl. 



'A 



PLATE Il-SIDE SECTION VIEW. WOODS' OPEN-AIR POULTRY HOUSE 
Shows Posts, Sills, Studs, Plates and Rafters with Boarding. Dotted lines indicate West Window. 



height as small house. Capacity 75 to 80 layers. Instead 
of small windows in monitor top of this large house use 
regular 6 light half window sash, two to each house.) 

Building Instructions — Plate II. 

Plate II shows side (sectional) elevation. Position of 
posts, studs, plates and rafters is clearly ghovra. Dotted 
lines show position of window in west wall. Door placed 
between two highest studs in east wall with bottom just 
below top of sill to break joint and stop draft. Door 
opens outward and hinges on north side. A screen door 
of one inch mesh hexagon netting should be made to 
open in, just inside solid door. This is useful in summer 
or at any time when it is desired to have door open. Po- 
sition of roosts, drop board, plates and windows in top 
are all shown in plan, and dimensions can be ascertained 
by marking a cardboard strip to correspond with scale 
below drawing. It will be noted that the south front is 
boarded down six inches from the top and up eighteen 
inches from the bottom. The balance of space is the al- 
ways open front covered only by one-quarter inch 
square mesh galvanized wire netting. The actual open- 
ing in front is 21/2 ft. high by about 10 ft. wide. It is al- 
ways open. X. is a 13 inch board notched to receive 
rafters nailed to upright studs to serve the double pur- 
pose of support for front rafters and as a stop draft. 
XX. is litter board from floor level to 4 to 6 in. above 
sill and used to keep all litter in rear section of house. 
It should be made removable resting in cleats. Front 
section should have sand or earth floor only. In rear 



should go on up and down and should lap on roof about 
one foot. This gives a wind proof joint. Eaves at north 
end of house should be made by a double course of 
shingles to project three inches. Roof covering shoulrl 
be laid to roll east and west with generous laps and 
should allow only four inches of shingle course open to 
weather. Peak should be protected by well painted 
board. South end of roof should have double shingle 
course to make eaves in same manner as north end. 

Windows for semi-monitor top should be three 3 
light common small cellar windows and should be 
screwed tightly in position to make a wind and storm 
proof joint. These windows may be removed in hot sum- 
mer weather but in cold climates should be firmly fixed 
in place from September 1st until first settled warm 
weather in June. West window may also be removed in 
hot summer weather and replaced by wire screen. With 
windows out in warm weather the house is cool and 
comfortable even in "dog days." 

Front Elevation — Plate III. 

Plate in gives a semi-perspective view of the fron*' 
elevation. Front and rear section are drawn to differen*; 
scale as shown in plan. As shown, front is boarded up 
from bottom 18 in. to break floor drafts and is also 
boarded down 6 in. from top. Balance is one quarter 
inch wire netting. Position of studs is shown. Door for 
fowls is only break in wire front, it can be closed by a 
hinged run board as is shoviTi in plan or may have a 



FRESH AIR HOUSES 



69 



board shutter run in cleats on 
worked by a cord and pulley. 



inside of house and 



Material Required 
6 posts 7 ft. long' to cut in halves. 

2 pieces 4x4 in. stock 14 ft. long for side sills. 
2- pieces 4x4 in. stock 10 ft. long for end sills. 

4 pieces 2x3 in. stock 3 ft. 8 in. long for back studs. 

3 pieces 2x3 in. stock 5 ft. long for studs. 

2 pieces 2x3 in. stock 5 ft. 8 in. long for studs. 

3 pieces 2x3 in. stock 6 ft. 4 in. long for studs. 

2 pieces 2x3 in. stock 4 ft. long for studs. 

4 pieces 2x3 in. stock 3 ft. 4 in. long for studs. 

3 pieces 2x3 in. stock 10 ft. long for plates. 



is boarded down to ground. Height at peak is 8 ft.; at 
back 5 ft.; at north end of front section 5 ft. 6 in., and 
at front 4 ft. 6 in. Measurements from ground. 

To make the house rat-proof it was built with a 
double boarded floor and was placed high on posts pro- 
tected with inverted metal pans. The fowls housed were 
confined to the house and were not allowed outside of 
it all winter. The front, as shown in illustration, was 
closed only by fine, square mesh, heavy galvanized wire 
netting and was always open. The fowls were healthy 
and happy all winter although somewhat crowded. The 
egg jield was exceptionally good. The eggs in the 
spring ran from 85 per cent to 90 per cent fertile and 
hatched well. Best of all the chicks lived and thrived. 



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PLATE III-DIAGRAM OF FRONT ELEVATION TO "SCALE PERSPECTIVE" WOODS' OPEN-AIR POULTRY HOUSE 

Note difference in Front and Rear Scale Shows Open Front and Semi-Monitor Top with Stnall 
Cellar Windows to Sun Rear of House. 



SOUTHERN OPEN-AIR HOUSE 



2 pieces 2x3 in. stock 10 ft. long for drop board 
supports. 

2 pieces 2x3 in. stock with rounded edges 10 ft. long Qpen-Front Building Suitable for Warm Climate 

for roosts. 

5 pieces 2x4 in. 
5 pieces 2x4 in. 



stock 8 ft. 9 in. long for rear rafters, 
stock 6 ft. long for front rafters. 



P. T. Woods, M. D. 



58 sq. ft. matched boards for droppings board and 
door. 

460 sq. ft. common boards for sides and roof. 

1 full window (2 sash six light) 4 ft. 3 in.x2 ft. 6 in. 

3 three light cellar window sash for monitor top. 

10 running feet of 14 inch square mesh heavy gal- 
vanized wire netting 30 in. high, for open front. 

500 sq. ft. best roofing fabric with caps and nails. 

Bundle shingles for making eaves on north and south 
ends. 

Nails, hinges, spikes, screws, etc. 

Where ground is level house sits with bottoms of 
sills on posts or rock six inches above ground level. It 



IN THE South, in all warm climates, an open-front 
poultry building is necessary for best results. 
The low-roofed, low open-front type of building 
is not so well suited to such localities as a house 
with more head room would be. In many parts 
of the South the days are hot and the nights are 
cold and damp. Heavy rains and excessive "humidity" 
are common. The "Southern" house is planned to meet 
the requirements of the climate, but in some cases it 
must be modified to suit local conditions. In the far 
South it will generally be a good plan to make the front 
third of the east and west sides of slats instead of tight 
boarding. Use "shingling laths" and leave one and one- 
half inch openings between the laths. 



70 



POULTRY HOUSES AND FIXTURES 



Southern Open-Air House Described 

The Southei'n Open-Air Poultry House is a partly 
floored, doiible-i)itch roof building, with an open front, 
plenty of head room, and a runway beneath the build- 
ing. It provides a comfortable home for the fowls the 
year around and the base- 
ment runway will prove par- 
ticularly useful as a cool re- 
treat for the fowls in hot, 
sunny weather. The house 
should be located on high, 
dry, well-drained soil and if 
placed in a low location the 
land should be graded to 
make the ground beneath 
the building higher than that 
surrounding it so that sur- 
face water will not run or 
stand beneath the house. Iq 
wet land drain around liuild- 
ing to carry off water 
heavy rains. 

The house occupies ground 
space 10 ft. wide by 14 ft. 
deep. The main building sito 
on posts two and one-half 

feet above the ground. Measuring from the ground it 
is 9 ft. 6 in. high at peak and 6 ft. 6 in. high at eaves. 
The house has a board floor extending from the rear to 
wdthin 2 ft. 8 in. of the front so the floor is 9 ft. 10 in. 
wide bj' 11 ft. deep and is made of matched boards with 
heavy tar paper beneath laid on the floor timbers. 

Fig. 1 on next page is scale diagram showing the 
front and east side of "Southern" house. There are two 
windows opposite each other in the sides and one ^vin- 



dow in the gable of the south front above the door. 
These windows are single sash (6 light) and are hinged 
at the top to open up against the roof where they 
should be fastened with hooks. One-quarter inch square- 
mesh wire netting should be used to cover the window 
on the outside of building. The space or runway be- 




REciABue pouLrr*> journal t»UB. CO., 
Q U I ■»« V, iLt- . 



FIG. I- 



SCALE DIAGRAM OF ELEVATION SOUTH FRONT AND EAST SIDE OF 
SOUTHERN OPEN-AIR HOUSE 



Diagonal crossed lines show spaces covered only by irire netting. 

no curtains are used. 



South front is always open, 



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OffN TO 

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"KOOiT A/V3 SCRATCH T^OO/W- 



neath the house is enclosed with one-inch mesh, heavy- 
galvanized hexagon wire netting or with finer mesh. 
Door and open front of main building should be covered 
with one-quarter inch square mesh heavy wire netting- 
(galvanized). A board is placed at bottom of main 
house (post level see Pig. 1) on either side of door to 
help break floor drafts. A "litter board" is placed at 
end of floor in front, extending 6 in. above floor level to 
hold straw litter on floor. Diagonal crossed lines in Fig. 

1 indicate parts closed only 
by wire netting. All draw- 
ings are to scale sho^vn in 
each cut. Mark card to cor- 
respond with scale, and it 
will give dimen.sions in feet. 
Use scale given in cut for 
that drawing only. Make 
some allowance for slight 
variation in Fig. 1, and note 
measurements in flat plans 
Figs. 2 and 3. 



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COPVRIOWT, ISoq. RELIABLt POULTRY JOURNAL PUB CO., QulMCV, ILL. 

FIG. 2-FLOOR PLAN SOUTHERN OPEN-AIR HOUSE 

Shows furnishings and floor limit. WW — Windows. D— Door. HH— Food Hopper. 
Shows position of studs on sill. 



Floor Plan and Furnishings 

Figure 2 shows floor plan 
with location of sills, studs, 
windows and furnishings. 
As indicated no droppings 
boards are used. Roosts are 
two feet above floor. Fowls 
will scratch litter from front 
of house to back and keep 
droppings covered. The drop- 
pings should be removed 
often and litter renewed. 
Position of nest and food 
hopper is indicated. Hopper 
sits on floor. Nest is placed 
with bottom 14 in. above 
floor. The nest is 2 ft, 6 in. 
long by 14 in. wide, is open 
only at the north end 



FRESH AIR HOUSES 



71 



and has a "shed-roof" cover hing-ed at the top. A water 
pail may be placed in a convenient corner of the run- 
way beneath the house. Run board is used to give easy 
access between scratching floor and basement runway. 
Windows are kept open in warm weather and closed dur- 
ing the cold or stormy season. "W" indicates vidndow. 
"H" is hopper. "D" is door. House should face south 
or east of south. 

Fig. 3 (this page) shows section view at south front 
at end of floor. Position of furnishings, posts, floor tim- 
bers, sills, studding, plates and rafters is shown in this 
drawing. Run board should be heavy enough to bear 
weight of attendant for convenience in entering main 
house when desired. The house from which this build- 
ing was adapted had inverted tin pans on tops of posts 
to keep out rats and no "run board" was used. 

In building this house set posts three feet in the 
ground. Spike sills to posts and lay floor timbers with 
ends resting on posts ^vhe^e possible to give a firm floor. 
Detail of timbers, studding, plates and rafters is shown 
in the plans. Nail plates to top of studs, fit and cut 
rafters as shown. Board in sides, north end and roof 
with common boards. Cover roof, north end of building 
and sides north of windows with good smooth heavy 
roofing fabric and give a good coat of white paint. A 
house painted white is cooler in hot weather. In very 
warm locations it will be well to make front third of 
east and west sides slatted. For this purpose use heavy 
"shingling lath" put on "up and down" with one and 
one-half inch openings between laths. By boarding sides 
up and down less studding ^vill be needed and building 
will have a better appearance. 

It is estimated that this house can be built at a cost 
not to exceed $35.00, using common lumber. With coun- 
try boards it can be made cheaper. Finished matched 
stock would add to the cost. It will comfortably house 
a flock of from 12 to 35 fowls of the American class. 
With small flocks or fowls kept only for eggs no outdoor 
run other than the basement runway need be supplied 
if laying stock is renewed each year and old stock sold 
to market. 

Material Required 

Following is carpenter's estimate of material re- 
quired: 

14 posts six inches through, 6 ft. long. 

3 pieces 3x4 in. stock 14 ft. long for sills. 

1 piece 4x4 in. stock 10 ft. long for rear sill. 

1 piece 4x4 in. stock 7 ft. long to make two front 
sills on either side of door. 

5 pieces 3x4 in. stock 10 ft. long for floor timbers. 



FRESH-AIR HOUSE FOR TOWN 

DWELLERS 
Eighty Birds can be kept in this House 

Charles H. Westacott 

THE accompanying photographs show a poultry 
house which I think is a practical, up-to-date, sta- 
tionary poultry house. By stationary I mean one 
that can be erected in the back yard of the 
ordinary suburban residence. I know there are many 
readers whose "chicken farms" are calculated by 
the square yard rather than by the acre, hence I am 
pleased to give this description of my house, feeling 
that it may be of interest to those whose space is lim- 



ited but who want a practical poultry house. The four 
photographs reproduced here tell the story pretty welU 
except the dimensions. 

The house is fourteen feet long, six feet wide, six 
feet high in front and four feet in the back and it 
stands on six posts as shown in the illustrations. The 
floor is three feet from the ground which gives no place 
for rats to harbor and this space between the posts fur- 
nishes shade in the summer and shelter from 
storms and cold winds in the winter. In fact, 
in the winter it is an open-air sun parlor. 
The house faces south and the angle of the sun being 
lower in winter, the rays reach nearly to the back of 
this space. There is a trap door in the floor which the 
hens use in stormy weather when the house is closed at 
the ends. Placed in the rear wall of this scratching 
room (this wall is made by extending the boards of the 
back of the house do\vn to the ground) are two doors. 




COPv RIGHT. (SO 9. RELIAfiLe POULTRY JOURNAL PUB. CO., QU'NCY, 'LL- 

FIG. 3-SECTION VIEW OF SOUTHERN OPEN-AIR HOUSE 

Shows furnishings and runway beneath floor. Indicates sills, floor timbers, 
studs, plates and rafters. WW — Windows. H — Food Hoppers, 

On one hangs a dry feed box with four pockets contain- 
ing .shell, grit, etc. This is filled by opening the door. 
In the winter there is kept in front of the other door a 
large box of fine ashes in which the birds may dust. 

We firmly believe that chickens were designed for 
outdoor life and that when we begin to shut them up in 
glass houses we are running against nature and the re- 
sult will be that the birds in a short time will seem to 
make it their sole business to catch cold and will have 
lost all sense of their responsibility to the egg market, 
paying no attention to the size of the owner's feed bills 
but Si^ending the principal part of their time in trying 
to keep out of drafts and practicing to learn which can 
hold down a stray streak of sunshine the longest with- 
out growing tired. Being imbued with these ideas we 
built a fresh air house that out-Tolmans Tolman. 

At each end of the house there are doors four feet 
wide, extending from the roof to the floor, that are 
swung open every morning, summer and winter, and 
^vhich remain that way all day unless there is a driving 
storm. 



72 



POULTRY HOUSES AND FIXTURES 



The roosts, three in number, extend lengthwise of 
the house as shown in the cuts, and are supported on 
cross pieces which are slipped into rests on the posts in 
the front and back of the house so that the floor is kept 
clear of all obstructions. The supporting pieces are 
easily slipped out and when the house is being white- 
washed these pieces are taken over to the adjoining 
fence, stood up in a row and pumped full of lime. The 
floor is kept covered with several inches of sifted ashes 
so that the cleaning of the house is quickly accom- 
plished by simply raking the surface droppings into a 
box from either door. This can be done in five minutes. 




FIG. 1- 



HOUSE CLOSED FOR THE NIGHT 
IN ORDINARY WEATHER 



There is no necessity to enter the house to clean any 
part of it as everything is easily reached from the 
ground. 

The Illustrations 

Fig. 1 shows the house closed for the night in all 
ordinary weather. Fig. 2 shows the curtains drawn for 
protection against driving storms and extreme cold. 
Some of the largest numbers of eggs were gathered on 
the days when the ground was covered with snow and 
the chickens were allowed to run in and out all day. 
It is clear that the cold feet theory had no effect on 
them. 

Fig. 3 shows the house taking a sun bath. The 
morning sun floods the house through the door on the 



through laying, about 4 o'clock, the house is opened 
as shown in Fig. 4, several times a week to purify the 
nests and it is certainly effective as neither nests nor 
roosts show signs of vermin of any kind. This picture 
also shows the ease with which the eggs are gathered. 
In fact, all necessary work in this style of house is per- 
formed without entering it, which will appeal to the 
women of the family who may be required to take 
charge of the flock at any time. 

Fig. 4 shows how a row of nests is removed in order 
to clean them. As can be seen these are merely a frame 
work placed upon the nest shelf to divide it into four 
equal spaces. There is room for 
twenty-four nests on the two 
shelves and the house will ac- 
commodate eighty chicks of av- 
erage size. "What." I can hear 
my readers exclaim, "pack 
eighty chicks in a house 14 by 
6?" That is just what I mean. 
This house will keep in perfect 
health eighty chicks because 
the sanitary conditions are 
about perfect for chicks, the 
house being sweetened by air 
and sunshine all day long and 
having a constant circula- 
tion of fresh air at night. 
Under the nests is a four 
inch air space which is never closed and which allows all 
carbonic acid gas to fall to the ground to be blown away 
and thus a constant supply of fesh air is furnished the 
birds. 

Sixty chicks were wintered here last winter and 
enough of this year's hatching will be placed in the 
house to bring the number up to eighty or a few more 
if they can get in. We have never had a bird show the 
least sign of a cold, though some of the male birds' 
combs were slightly touched with frost. 

The material for this house cost less than thirty dol- 
lars. We never saw any house that was erected at so 
small a cost that could equal this one in stability, looks, 
genera! handiness and n\imber of chicks housed. 




FIG. 2-CURTAINS DRAWN AGAINST 
STORMS AND EXTREME COLD 





FIG. 3-HOUSE TAKING ITS DAILY SUN BATH. 



FIG. 4-REMOVING THE NEST BOXES TO CLEAN THEM. 



FRKSH AIR HOUSES 



73 



CALIFORNIA FRESH-AIR HOUSE 

A Substantial, Well -Built House That Will 

Cost About Fifty Cents per Bird for 

the First Occupants 

I. W. Whitney 

THE modern fowl house should include every recog- 
nized aid to perfect health. Whether egg- produc- 
tion or symmetrical development of its inmates 
is desired, the most important requisites are 
pure, fresh air, without drafts, an abundance of light and 
sunshine, compulsory exercise, absence of dampness, etc. 

Imagine yourself sleeping on a ground floor in damp 
weather, the whole front of j'our house openl Does it 
appeal to you? But elevate yourself three or four feet 
above the ground on a practically air-tight board floor, 
with the protection of a cloth frame between yourself 
and the outside air, and the situation resolves itself into 
one of comfort and healthfulness. 

The writer holds to the opinion that a perfectl}' san- 
itary house must be so constructed that every avail- 
able ray of sunshine may enter.It is not sufficient that 
the floor alone receives this highly disinfecting 
agent, but it should reach the side walls, yes, even the 
under side of the roof. As nearly as possible, this sun- 
light not only solves the moisture question, but the 
mite or house louse question also, for no 
mite or louse will breed in sunlight or extremely light 
surroundings. A fresh air poultry house that does 
not provide a means of shade, protection from wind 
and rain, and also compulsory exercise for its occu- 
pants, as required, is not down-to-date, as all of the 
above are essential to perfect health and extremely 
fertile and strongly hatchable eggs. 

The , Whitney Fresh- Air House 

In "Whitney's improved fresh air poultry house" all 
these points are looked after, while at the same time 
careful consideration is given to expense in construc- 
tion. As we build it, first-class, seasoned lumber is used, 
6-inch pine or red-wood ceiling for side walls, and 1x12 
inch pine boards, surfaced one side, for roof boards, 
over which is laid 2-ply flint lock or Congo felt roofing. 

The ground floor is made of concrete (gravel and 
crude oil or asphalt may be used). The sill line at rear 
and ends is level, but the main floor has a drop of 2'/4 
inches from rear to front, affording good drainage if 
water becomes necessary for disinfecting or cleaning. A 
lxl2-inch board held in place by cleats, removable at 
pleasure, rests upon the concrete at front of scratching 
shed (see cut), and serves the purpose of confining the 
scratching material to its place within the building. 
This board may be re-inforced by an added 6-inch board 
on top, if it is found to be necessary to retain the 
scratching material. The cloth frames used as shade or 
for protection from storms or low temperature, are 
made interchangeable, and may be used above at night 
and on the scratching shed by day, fully closed or par- 
tially open, as required, or a frame may be placed on 
each opening at small expense. These frames, as we 
use them, are held in place by hooks, similar to those 
used on swinging screen windows — (any hardware mer- 
chant can supply them). This permits their quick re- 
moval. We never use them except in heavy winds, driv- 



ing rains and for shade, nor would we use them in a 
climate, the temperature of which did not fall below 
zero at any time, except when we found it absolutely 
necessary to preserve our fowls' combs, or for their 
comfort, or as an aid to prolific laying. With a breed 
like the Leghorn or Minorca, experience has taught us 
that an excessively low temperature at night, sudden 
changes from high to low temperature, etc., must be met 
with intelligent protection by the attendant. 

How Space is Economized 

The second or roosting room floor is of 6-inch No. 2 
pine flooring, laid the narrow way of the building, and 
is practically air tight. If tongue or groove be freshly 
painted with white lead before laying it will pay for the 
time and expense. This floor is four feet above the ce- 
ment floor. In other words, the scratching shed is four 
feet high in the clear. Just above this floor, on the 
front, come the trap doors for cleaning the roosting 
floor from the outside of the building. The roosting 
room floor is level for 21/, feet from front to permit of 




THE WHITNEY FRESH-AIR POULTRY HOUSE 



an alley way from the roosiing apartment to the inside 
partition. There is an oiitside door to the upper or 
roosting floor at the right hand end of the building near 
the front. This door corresponds with the level floor 
and another door occupying the same position from 
front to rear is at the opposite end of the building. 

The remaining portion of the floor under the roosts 
is built on an incline, the rear end resting four inches 
imder rear plate of building and it drops to meet the 
level floor at front. This serves as a dropping board, 
making cleaning very easy from the outside of the build- 
ing, also giving six feet of head room at rear of scratch- 
ing shed. The runway for the fowls to enter the roost- 
ing quarters starts from the rear of the scratching shed 
and meets the upper floor at the point where the rear of 
the level floor leaves off, giving the fowls plenty of head 
room in going to and from the roost. This runway is 
placed against the middle partition of building and 
takes up little space in the scratching shed. The nest 
boxes may be made portable or built on to the building, 
as desired. All the suggestion we have to offer is that 



74 



POULTRY HOUSES AND FIXTURES 



the bottom be of galvanized screen cloth and a little 
heavier wire be used than common window screen. 

The elevation of this building is 61/2 by 9 feet; it is 
8 by 16 feet on the ground. It will be noted that there 
is two times as much floor space as in a commonly con- 
structed poultry house, under one-half the amount of 
roof which is evidence of a saving of one-half in one of 
the most expensive items of fowl house construction. 

Cost of Building 

This poultry house built as we describe it costs 
$45.00 here in California, just as you see it in the illus- 
tration, and it will accommodate 100 fowls nicely. One 
hundred and twenty-five head of Leghorns will do better 
in this house than with one-third more floor space in a 
closed house. I have carried fifty-seven White Leghorns 
for six months at a time in a space 6 by 6 in one of these 
houses with fine results. I refer to upper and lower 
floors G by 6. 

To any who may try this plan we wish to say, "Use 
good judgment in the use of the cloth curtains and we 
will guarantee entire satisfaction with this plan at any 
point in the United States, Canada or England." We 
court the fullest criticism from those who think they 
see weak points in it. It is the result of twenty-five 
years' practical experience with fowl culture, in several 
difEerent locations. It is not claimed that it is perfect, 
but it is believed to be a little in advance of anything 
offered to date, for actual practical business and beauty 
combined with limited cost. 

The appearance of the building may seem to indi- 
cate a too expensive proposition for the every-day, prac- 
tical poultryman. Actual figures do not reveal this. 
Fifty cents per bird for a house of unlimited usefulness, 
built to last a life time, is not prohibitive to any poul- 
tryman who appreciates comfort, convenience and prac- 
tical qualities in the fowl house. The increased profit 
from prolific egg production and the low per cent of 
disease and mortality will soon cancel the difference in 
cost between such a building as this and the apologies 
for houses in evidence on many so-called poultrymen's 
places. 



A MODIFIED FRESH-AIR HOUSE 

Designed, Used and Recommended for Tall-Combed 

Varieties in Cold Latitudes 

H. Heidenhain 

LAST fall when the task was put before us 
to provide laying houses for about 400 hens, we 
decided to build first two houses according to Mr. 
Tolman's Fresh-Air House plan. Mr. Tolman's 
reasons for the construction of this style of houses 
seemed to be so sound and the results obtained by him 
were so excellent that we thought little risk was involved 
in following his advice to use the same style of house for 
Leghorns, although his experience was then limited to 
Brahmas. 

The two houses were finished in September and were 
at once filled with pullets and cockerels of different va- 
rieties, among which the Leghorns took a prominent 
part. The inhabitants of these two houses were healthy 
and happy and seemed, at first, to stand the great 
changes of temperature between day and night which is 



characteristic of our climate, pretty well. The pullets 
began to lay in November and the egg yield was steadily 
increasing. We got in the former part of December in 
one of these houses 40 pullets, not all of which had 
reached maturity, on the average of 12 eggs per day. 
(The other house contained later hatched chickens). 
Our hopes were swelled that we had hit the right plan 
and that our egg j'ield from this flock soon would be- 
come still greater. 




<-- 






'8- 





s3 
>< 



s 
7 



i 



B 

HEIDENHAIWS FRESH-AIR POULTRY HOUSE 
■Sectional view showing location of roosts, droppings board and nests. 
-Plan, giving general dimensions and location of interior fixtures. 



I'ut here we were disappointed. As soon as the 
weather became more severe the egg yield did not even 
keep its own but diminished in an alarming manner. 
From an average of 12 eggs during the first third of De- 
cember we rapidly went down, making the average foi 
the second third but eight eggs per day. 

The middle of the month had brought us snow and 
cold nights and we noticed that the combs of the Leg- 
horn pullets got white tips and those of the Leghorn 
cockerels turned bluish. 

It was not necessary to carry the experiment any 
further at least as far as Leghorns were concerned. As 



FRESH AIR HOUSES 



75 



we were short of quarters for our birds, we had to leave 
them in these houses, but provided for the fronts muslin 
doors which could be opened the full width of the front, 
when closed, which hereafter was done every nig'ht. A 
3-inch wide strip over the top of these doors was left 
open to admit fresh air. After these changes were made 
no more combs got frozen, in fact the color of the combs 
of the cockerels soon became bright red again and our 
egg .yield increased in spite of the weather becoming 
still worse. The average jield of the last third of De- 
cember was 15 eggs per day. 

How the Plan for our Fresh-Air Houses was Developed. 

During the course of this experiment the question 
as to the style of laying houses best adapted to our cli- 
matic conditions was daily discussed and finally a plan 
was elaborated which seemed to satisfactorily fulfill all 
requirements. 

It was out of the question to follow in future the 
Tolman plan, even in the modified form i.e., with muslin 
frames in front, as, for our purpose at least, the in- 
terior arrangement was not practical. In the first place 
we found the floor space much too small for that num- 
ber of chickens, which Mr. Tolman recommends to keep 
in such a house. The area is but 96 square feet, which 
gives each fowl only 214 square feet. Not from a 
theoretical point of view, but from practical observation 
we had come to the conclusion that not less than 4 
square feet should be allowed to each chicken. 

There are days on which chickens are better off in- 
doors than outdoors, no matter how necessary fresh air 
is for their well being. The house, therefore, must have 
room enough for the chickens to move about and to 
scratch for their food. In a house which is overfilled, 
the chickens stand idle. For the phlegmatic Brahmas 
this may be no hardship; they also keep warm by the 
mere size of their bodies, but the little Leghorns soon 
feel chilly if compelled to idleness on a stormy day. 

Another featuje in Mr. Tolman's plan which did not 
find our approval is the depth of the droppings boards, 
caused by the use of the three fold roost. Occasions fre- 
quently happen, esi^ecially in the fall when the weather 
turns severe, on which the chickens must be treated in- 
dividually. The attendant must be enabled by the ar- 
rangement of the roosts, to reach any single bird with- 
out disturbing the rest of the flock. This cannot be 
done with three roosts, as the third one is too far away 
from the front of the droppings boards. To bring the 
roosts closer together would not do, in fact in Mr. Tol- 
man's plan the roosts are as close together as admis- 
sible, perhaps a little too close. Two roosts are all that 
should be used. 

The wire front in ]Mr. Tolman's plan has proved dis- 
astrous to the large combs of Leghorns. The house being 
of small size the excitable Leghorns fly right towards 
the front whenever a person enters the house, thereby 
lacerating their combs. Here again it shows that circum- 
stances change conditions. What is right for the easy 
going Brahmas will not necessarily suit the nervous 
Leghorns. 

Placing the nests under the droppings boards as is 
often done, also in Mr. Tolman's plan, we do not find 
practical. Not alone that it reduces the available floor 
area, but it also gives dark corners in which the hens 
are induced to lay, and one has to stoop down and crawl 
under the droppings boards in search for eggs. 

Having observed such defects in the Tolman house 



we had to avoid them in our future plan without sac- 
rificiug the fresh air feature. 

In the first place we had to decide the number of 
chickens to be* housed in one house. All experience 
seems to point to a limitation of the flock to 50 head. 
Takirig this as a maximum for small breeds, it means 
about 40 for the largest and 45 for the medium sized 
breeds. If we figure for the medium sized fowls about 
614 inch and for the largest small breeds like Leghorna 
about 51/3 inch roosting space, for breeds about 7 inch, 
we arrive in every instance pretty close to the same re- 
sult, i.e., 28 running feet of roosting space. Using two 
roosts, the length of each one would then be 14 feet. 
Therefore, the house must measure in one direction at 
least 14 feet, if the allowable greatest number of chick- 
ens are to be put in a single house, which, of course, is 
desirable from an economical point of view. 

As said before, each chicken should have at least 4 
square feet floor space. That makes for 50 head, 200 
square feet. If 14 feet is the length of one side of the 
house, the other side is figured to be a little over 14 
feet. There would be no harm in making the house 
larger either way or both way.s, but on a commercial 
plant like ours, no money can be thrown away for dis- 
pensable things. 

After discussing and planning the interior for other 
dimensions, which would give nearly 200 square feet floor 
area, we finally decided on a 14 by 14 foot house, which 
allowed the arrangement of all fixtures in an easy and 
commodious manner and at the same time was the 
cheapest to build on account of its square shape. 

The question of whether single houses or 
houses with scratching sheds attached should be 
chosen, was also thoroughly discussed. While the 
latter are very nice in many ways (we had 
five of such houses in use) they are not cheap, 
considering the number of chickens which can be housed 
therein. The chickens stay either in one or the other 
compartment. On cold nights and on some cold days 
the doors must be kej^t clo.sed. Suppose the shed is in 
floor space just as large as the house proper, then the 
chickens have only the benefit of half the building. It 
costs about as much to build the partition between the 
house and the shed as to close the front of the shed. 
Doing this we get a house double the area and double 
the volume of air, which is a decided advantage on oc- 
casion as before mentioned. 

Simple and Effective Plan of Ventilation 

Now then we had to provide for an abundance of 
light and fresh air. The solution of this problem seems 
to us is given in the use of large doors in front of the 
building, as shown in our plan. 

The ventilating device which I adopted consists of a 
pair of plain sliding curtains similar to those which our 
good wives use on the lower sashes of windows or on 
the big glass of the house door. The curtains are made 
of a rather open, unbleached muslin and have hollow 
seams on top and bottom. These seams are sliding 
over rods of galvanized iron, a little thicker than tele- 
graph wire, which are held in place by screw-eyes. Wires 
and screw-eyes are assembled in the manner sho^vn in 
the sketch and the curtains are easily put on in the fol- 
lowing manner: First, stick the long end of the wire 
through screw-eye B, then slide the seam over the wire 
Put wire through A and finally snap the short end be- 
hind C (not through the loop of C). 

Such sliding curtains may be put in any position 



76 



POULTRY HOUSES AND FIXTURES 



and will stay where put. They can be pushed entirely 
aside or drawn together on either the upper or the 
lower side and so on, thus allowing circulation of air 
in a great variety of ways. Two of such positions are 
shown in the photograph. 

The curtains are preferably put on the outside of 
the doors, so as to permit moving them without enter- 
ing the house. On the inside the openings of the doors 
are covered with wire netting. 

These doors with their sliding curtains we regard 
as one of the best things we have on our place. With 
them we are prepared for any kind of weather, hot or 




VENTILATING CURTAIN IN POSITION 

cold, sunshine, rain or snow. While both doors remain 
wide open day and night during the mild season we 
make it a practice to keep them closed over night, dur- 
ing freezing weather and regulate the opening accord- 
ing to the severity of the weather. As the curtains 
lay only loosely against the door frames and the fabric 
of the muslin is rather open, there is some exchange of 
air going on even then, when they are drawn out over 
the entire width of the openings. 

In snowy weather we find it best to keep the chick- 
ens indoors with curtains pushed aside. Thus they have 
dry ground under their feet and all the fresh air and 
light they need. 

The question whether shed roof or hip roof was to 
be used was decided in favor of the latter, on account of 
the size of the house and saving of material. By putting 
the gable side to the south we managed to provide for 
the large doors in front, which admit all light and air 
required. Too much light must be avoided in a climate 
like ours, with almost uninterrupted sunshine for 9 
months of the year. In our old scratching sheds, the 
chickens do not know where to hide from the rays of 
the sun. 

Undoubtedly the chickens like the open sheds and 
reluctantly they retire to the roosting rooms when the 
sun gets too strong. Having observed this we took care 
to provide for shade as well as light in our new plan and 
made the doors of such size, that at any position of the 



sun, the house gives shady corners as well as sunny 
places. The height of the doors is such that the sun 
sweeps in the course of the day over the whole floor 
except in summer when it is not necessary. 

The roosts we laid against the north wall being the 
one most remote from the front and therefore giving 
the birds best shelter against draft when the doors are 
left open over night. 

We placed the window on the east side rather than 
the west side as all living beings enjoy the first warming 
rays of the rising sun. 

The space under the droppings boards we left free 
and placed the nests on shelves in two stories on the 
west wall. Likewise watering trough and grit box are 
placed over a shelf, thus leaving the entire floor space 
available for the chickens' exercise. 

It is of little importance of what material the houses 
(le built. Local conditions are deciding in the selection 
of the proper lumber for walls and the material for the 
roof. Like Mr. Tolman we made it a point to have our 
houses tight against any draft. We lined the walls with 
heavy water-proof building" paper on the inside, using 
shiplap outside, and covered the house with good roofing 
felt. All fancy or decorative work such as corner strips, 
molding, etc., have been omitted, our only object being 
the comfort of the inhabitants. 

These houses have been in use since December and 
liave proved equally serviceable with Plymouth Rocks 
as with Leghorns. We have had no frozen combs, al- 
though our nights in January were pretty cold and the 
air was damp and chilly from the time the chickens 
were put in until the end of February, only a few single 
days of sunshine interrupting the monotony of cloudy 
skies. 

Method Stands Severe Test 

Last winter was one of the most severe ones ever 
experienced here in Washington. Snow lay from two to 
three feet deep on the ground for about three months 
and it was freezing hard for several weeks without a let- 
up. Thus our houses and method of ventilation were 
put to a severe test and we can say that both have 
proved entirely satisfactory. There was no sickness in 
these houses or frozen combs with our Leghorns. The 
egg yield was good all winter from both pullets and 
hens. The fertility of the eggs was splendid as early as 



■Or 




lllu.straliou showing one of the wires which 

support the sliding curtain invented by 

M. Heidenhain 



the end of February when we began selling and using 
eggs for hatching, and the eggs hatched well. 

We are satisfied that our poultry houses fulfill the 
requirements of our climatic conditions, but we hardlj 
think that one plan vdll answer under all conditions. 
.Vll we can say is: Study your climate and your breed 
and then build to suit. 



gnrtable goultrp i^oufieg 




A SATISFACTORY MOVABLE COLONY HOUSE 

Two views of a movable colony house. At the left the house is seen as it appears in winter with the front closed; the view at 

right shows the house with front completely open. 



Cfje iHobable Jlous^es; Wi&th in Cnglanb 

The Details of Construction of tlie Farmers' Fanciers' and Suburban Poultry Keepers' Houses — Methods 
of Housing Poultry in Small Flocks about the Farm and " Running " 
them wtth Cattle and Sheep 

Chas. D. Leslie 



MUCH of the progress of late years which has 
marked the poultry industry in this country is 
due to a better understanding- of how to house 
poultrj'. It is strang-e, but true, that poultry 
keepers generally are just beginning to recognize the two 
cardinal facts of the housing problem: that poultry may 
be raised at a profit only where kept in lots not exceed- 
ing fifty, and that the fowls need more ventilation in 
summer than in winter. It is not very long ago that an 
enterprising "poultry farmer" ran his fowls in lots of 
three hundred, providing one house for that number, 
arguing very plausibly that there was a saving of ex- 
pense in building one large house instead of many 
smaller ones, and but for the fact that his fowls laid ■ 
very poorly and a mysterious disease killed them off 
within a twelvemonth, he might have proved his point. 

Poultry ho\ises used always to be built with four 
wooden sides, some not even having a window, and no 
ventilation beyond a few holes up at the eaves. Even 
though built to accommodate fifty fowls, the windovrs in 
the houses were only a foot square, and fixed. Writers on 
poultry topics, when discussing poultry houses, suggested 
a window as a sort of an extra. It was hardly an extrava- 
gance, they pleaded, though they did not venture to call 
it a necessity. Happily, more enlightened methods pre- 
vail today. 



"Most Profitable Way of Keeping Poultry Is to Run Them 
on Grass Land with Cattle or Sheep" 

Farmers who are now taking up the breeding of poul- 
try as a minor branch of live stock from which they can 
make fifty to a hundred pounds ($250 to $500) a year, for 
the most part rely upon movable houses, that is, houses 
set on wheels and accommodating twenty to fifty fowls. 
They find that the most profitable way of keeping poul- 
try is to run them on grass land along with cattle or 
sheep, in numbers of ten or twelve to the acre, instead of 
allotting a certain portion of the farm entirely to them. 
The house is moved daily, or every few days, and if the 
poultry are kept in flocks of such small numbers they do 
the land no harm, but rather benefit it. By this means 
the fowls cost nothing beyond their food, and the initial 
cost of the house, the item of rent — the rock on which 
the poultry farmer usually comes to grief — being elim- 
inated, for the land carries as much live stock as it did 
before, plus one, two or three hundred head of fowls. 

Differences of Climate 
I should like to call attention to two points of dif- 
ference between poultry keeping in this country and in 
the United States. We cannot with any degree of safety 
keep them so thickly on the ground, and this because of 
the second point of difference, that of temperature. The 



78 



POULTRY HOUSES AND FIXTURES 



open winter is the rule here, the exceptions, especially 
of late years, being- very few. Our winters in the north 
of England are cold and damp, with frost and snow in- 
termittant, and the climate varies seriously, considering 
the comparatively small size of our island. The ther- 
mometer hovers around freezing- point, g-enerally above 
it. Such weather is, of course, very bad for fowls, when, 
as in the majority of cases, they have no dry shelter, 
thaws following frosts so rapidly that the runs cannot 




1 04- AN ENGLISH COLONY HOUSE 

The nest boxes and feed troughs being on the outside, the attendant can 
gather the eggs and feed the fowls without entering the coop. 



dry out. As a rule, the land is heavy clay soil, that 
taints far more quickly than a light gravel soil, which 
forms onlj' a small proportion of this country, and poul- 
try keepers find it inadvisable to run fowls more thickly 
than one hundred to the acre. 

Twenty-five Fowls in Each Flock are Most Profitable 

Supposing grass land is devoted entirely to the poul 
try, experience teaches that the fowls should be kept in 
lots not exceeding twenty-five in runs consisting of an 
eighth of an acre of land, two runs being allotted to each 
flock, the fowls being transferred from one to the other 
alternately every six months. One transfer is made 
about June, when the hay season is on. The grass is cut 
in an empty run and when the ground is cleared the 
fowls are put into it. ' The grass in the run they have 
quitted i.s also cut, although it is of no use except for lit- 
ter. An attempt to make the land carry more fowls has 
proven disastrous. 

The fowls are not indulged with big dry shelters as 
in the United States. Some have wooden boxes just big 
enough for them, say a house 5 by 5 feet high, containing 
125 cubic feet of space for fifteen to twenty fowls, 
though the more up-to-date poultry keeper uses the open 
front pattern, which is a combination of house anrl dry 
shelter. 

Farmers' Poultry Houses 

We have three common patterns of houses; first, that 
on wheels, like the one in accompanying illustration (104). 
These are called "farmers' houses," and have a large sale 
among farmers who run their flocks at liberty. They are 
far from perfect. The outside nest boxes are strongly 



condemned by all good judges. While they save opening 
the door of the house, which may be kept locked, they 
are harbors for lice, as they are not easy to clean, in 
fact, fixed nest boxes are a mistake, and a poultry house 
door .should be opened each day in order to make sure 
that all is right inside the house. Such a house does not 
afEord enough ventilation as there is but one small -win- 
dow on one side (not shown in the photograph), with 
ventilation holes up in the eaves. On a hot sunamer night 
the fowls do not get sufficient air. 

The newer types of this pattern have a big. movable 
shutter in place of a -window, made either of part glass 
and part wire, or all of wire. In warm weather the shut 
ter is pulled back and a full current of air admitted. 
Having tlie house on wheels is useful as by means of a 
horse and traces attached to the rings in front, it may be 
easily transferred from one field to another. The most 
sheltered position will be chosen for the house in winter 
and throughout the spring and summer it will occupy 
grass land devoted to sheep or cattle, then in autumn, 
>vhen the harvest is over, if the farmer grows corn, 
wheat, barley or oats, the house is moved to the stubble 
and the fowls glean the land. Many farms, however, are 
all grass, as we are gro-wing less and less grain, and in 
this case they are transferred in such a manner that the 
farmer can obtain as large a cut of hay in June or July 
as possible. 

The open front, or semi-open front, pattern poultry 
house is now coming into general use, indeed, I venture 
to prophesy that it will in the future be more popular 
than any other. All the up-to-date poultry keepers are 
using it for their breeding pens. One type is illustrated 
in the photograph in the foreground of which are White 
Wyandottes. 

The picture derives its chief interest from the fact 
that the birds are Miss Tammadge's, the celebrated 
strain which won first prizes two years in succession in 
the Utility Poultry Club's laying competitions, so that 
they may be regarded as the premier British laying 
strain. 

The photograph shows the house so well that no fur- 
ther description is 
needed, but a some- 
what simpler patte rn 
is more popular, be- 
ing cheaper to make 
(105). This is a com- 
bined house and day 
shelter or scratch- 
ing shed. The house 
and run is partiallj' 
divided by the 
line E F, which 

extends about two-thirds the way from front to rear. 
Half the front E D is boarded; the other half, B E is 
wired, and may or may not have a shutter. The roosts 
are shown. These houses have sloping roofs and are 
built lightly, but fairly substantial. The fowls escape 
direct draughts in all weather, while they get plenty of 
air. Some breeders dispense with the partition E F, but 
unless in a very sheltered position, this would be too airj 
in winter. There are old-fashioned poultry keepers who 
look askance at these open front houses, but it is hardly 
necessary to say that chicks as well as adult fowls should 
be reared in open-front, or very well ventilated houses. 



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:05-PLAN OF OPEN-FRONT POULTRY 
HOUSE IN USE IN GREAT BRITAIN 



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COLONY HOUSE ON RUNNERS 

At the left is shown the Sled-Runner Colony House built and used by J. W. Parks. In the right view, through the open door, 

the roosts are seen in place for surplus cockerels. 



^leb=i^unner Colonp ?|ous!e 

A Convenient Design that can be Changed from a Summer to a Wmter House at a Small 

Expenditure of Time and Labor 

J. W. Parks 



WE PRESENT herewith a photoyraph of one of 
our latest style colony houses, which for all 
'round, every day purposes, is the best we 
have seen or used so far. In fact, it is a 
house that has filled a long- felt want. \Ve have been for 
a number of years, working on a colony house that would 
not only answer the purpose of raising 
the chicks, but one that we could fix up 
at a very small cost for winter use. You 
have all heard that "idleness is the 
mother of mischief," and it is certainly 
true that a poultry house fares better 
if it is in use every day. Furthermore, 
we wanted a house that we could change 
from a summer to a winter house with 
a very small expenditure of time, be- 
cause when one has a great many hoxises 
to care for, things must be pretty con- 
venient, as time is one of the most im- 
portant considerations. These features 
our colony houses have. 

We have been making our houses '3 
feet wide and 7 feet deep, but of course 
they can' be made almost any size to 
suit your requirements. The shape of 
the house will depend principally upon 
the style of brooder you use. Hereafter 
we expect to make our houses 7 feet 
wide and only 6 feet deep as that size 
will be more convenient for caring for 
the brooders we are now using. Our 
houses are 4 feet 6 inches high in the 
back and 6 feet high in front, which 
may be a little low for some people, but 
it is well to remember that in cold 
weather the chickens have to heat the 
house, hence the importance of making them as small 
as practical. 

\Vhen constructing a house, the three sled runners 



are cut first, using for them 2 by 6 oak plank. One run- 
ner is placed at the back, one at the tront and one in 
the middle. Next we cut 2 by 4s as long as we intend 
the house to be deep, the runners alwaj'S being as long as 
the house is wide. We use a 2 by 4 at each side and one 
in the middle, notching the runners so that the 2 by 4s 




LOW COST PORTABLE COLONY HOUSE 

Three of a group of twenty portable colony houses constructed by a farmer at a cost of $5.00 each. 

An inexpensive brocder was placed in each house and the chicks were liappy and 

healthy in all weather. Each house is a shelter for 50 to 75 chicks until 

they are marketed or placed in winter quarters. 



can set down level with the top of the runners. In this 
way we get a level surface on which to lay the first floor, 
which must be of tight lumber. Over it lay some old pa- 



80 



POULTRY HOUSES AND FIXTURES 



pers and then a second floor, which need not be so tight 
as the first because the cracks are sure to be filled. We 
lay these double floors because we use these houses as 
early as January for little chicks, so it is very Important 
to have the floors as warm as possible. 

Next, the top frame is made and the corner boards 
nailed on and then we finish boarding up, using matched 
lumber so as to have tight joints. There naust be no 
draughts in those coops. 

Such a house can be built with less than 400 feet of 
matched lumber. We use tar paper for the roofs. By 
tarring it as soon as laid and once a year afterward, It 
will last from ten to fifteen years as it gets heavier each 
year. If first-class material is used one of these houses 
will cost from $10 to $12, but you can use indoor brooders 
in them instead of buying outdoor brooders and the dif- 
ference in their cost will cut down the cost of the house, 
not to mention the avoidance of wet knees from kneeling 
to attend to the lamp and the annoyance of having a 
stiff breeze blow out the flame. It is more pleasant to 
attend to an indoor brooder set in one of these colony 
houses. 

The Illustiations 

Letter A shows the projection of the roof. We have 
it project 18 inches in front and 12 inches in the rear. 
This not only protects the building and prevents the 
snow from blowing directly in, but it also makes a place 
for the chicks as well as the attendant to stand during 
rough w^eather. 

You wall notice that the door is really three doors in 
one. Letter B shows the top door, which has a muslin 
curtain that we let down over the vrire in the winter time 
when the weather is rough, or on cold nights. We can 
open this door independently of the others and it serves 
nicely for feeding and watering without entering coop. 

Letter C shows the middle door made out of a win- 




PORTABLE HOUSE ON THE MOVE 
An English portable house on wheels that can be hauled to any part of the form. 



dow sash. This is used to let light in and to keep cold 
out in the winter. In summer we take out the sash and 
substitute a frame covered vsdth wire. 

Letter D shows the bottom door which we consider 
is one of the best things about the house. During the 
winter this door keeps the litter confined to the house 
so the chickens can scratch as much as they like. In the 
illustration this door may be seen let down to form a 
platform for the chicks to run up and down. 

Letter E shows a sliding door that we seldom use ex- 
cept when we have a few chicks that we wish to fence 
in. Then we have the wire fence come between the door 
D and the opening. In this way we have access to the 
main coop without bothering the yard and we can reach 
in and shut the door without entering the yard. 

Letter F shows one of the sled runners. Being made 
of 2 by 6s they throw the house up high enough so that 
the chicks can run under it out of the hot sun or away 
from hawks which are quite numerous in our country. 
This open space under the house will have to be closed up 
for a time until the chicks learn the way into the house. 

We have a sort of baled hay hook that we hook under 
the house back of the 3 by 4 on the side and then hook 
the other end to the harness and the horse is ready to 
move the house to any desired location. We 
move these houses not less than twice a month even if 
it is only their own length, as that gives the chicks a 
uew pasture and avoids the danger of killing the grass 
where the house stood. 

Let me again caution any who may build colony 
houses that the two sides and the back must be tight as 
your year's work can be spoiled by drafts. 

The Occupants 
We first place about 50 chicks in an indoor brooder in 
one of these houses and as soon as they learn to go in 
and out of the brooder, we cover the colony house floor 

with chaff and let the 
chicks have the whole place. 
Be careful not to leave any 
little nails lying around I 
lost about 40 promising 
chicks last February as a 
result of their eating some 
little lath nails I had left in 
the coop. 

As soon as they are old 
enough and the weather 
permits, I remove the brooder 
and fix a little place in one 
corner for them. When they 
are large enough to squat 
on the roost I place two 
roosts — 4 inch boards — ■ 
about 6 inches from the 
floor across the rear end of 
the house. These roosts 
will hold about 35 half- 
grown chicks, and that is 
about as many as the most 
of us raise on an average, 
from 50 chicks. 

We keep them this way 
until the cockerels get to 
bothering the pullets and 
then we take the pullets to 
winter pens or move them to 
some other part of the farm. 



Cxtetior anb Sntetiot Jfixturesi 




exterior Jfixturesi 

The Con^rucflion of the Mo^ Successful Portable and Stationary Colony Houses, Weaning, Brood and 

Shipping Coops and Crates for Fattening Chickens 



THE ADVANTAGES OF PORTABLE 
COLONY HOUSES 

Where great numbers of chickens are reared it is advis- 
able to place the larger chickens in portable colony houses as 
soon as they do not require natural or artificial heat. These 
portable colony houses are located about the farm and as 
they can be inpved readily by a horse the chicks can always 
have fresh ground over which to roam. It is preferable to 
confine the fifty or more chicks of each colony house on a 
grass plot of not less than 1,000 square feet. The fencing 
around this plot should be of 12 foot portable sections that 
can be readily moved, or it can be machine made, picket 
fencing with the pickets not over IX inches apart. The 
advantage of confining the chicks is that it prevents their 
roaming over and soiling too large a range; by this method 
as soon as the first plot is soiled, the house and yard can be 
moved to a new location. 

Portable houses can not only be used for housing the 
larger chickens, but they make admirable shelters for indoor 
brooders and newly hatched chicks. One brooder is placed in 
a house 6 by 6 feet and the fifty chicks always have a bright 
cheerful house. The chicks require little attention in incle- 
ment weather when they cannot be allowed outside; clover 
chaff to the depth of 2 or 3 inches is scattered over the floor 
and by throwing in a few handfuls of dry chick feed or 
small grain, the chicks will scratch for hours. 

The "A" Type of Portable Colony House 

A practical and inexpensive type of portable colony 
house is the A house. It is 6 feet square on the floor and 
about 7 feet high to the peak of the roof. These dimensions 
allow the poultryman to feed and attend the chickens, care 
for the brooder, etc., inside the house — a feature, the impor- 
ance of which will be recognized by all poultrymen who have 



attended young chicks in brood coops or outdoor brooders 
during heavy rain storms. 

The average cost of the materials and paint for the house 
is $7.00. The house will last for years and will he a profit- 
able investment. 






106— "A" TYPE OF PORTABLE COLONY HOUSE 



Elevation 
Rear 



The sills or runners, 
tloor and frame for sides 



Front 



82 



POULTRY HOUSES AND FIXTURES 



^ g.c-~Zl^ . 



107 



-THE CONSTRUCTION OF 
THE FLOOR 



S feet, 
boards 



The ConSru(fhon of the "A" Type Portable Colony House 

Two pieces of 4 by 4 inch cedar should be cut 6 feet 10 
inches long for the sills or runners; one end of the pieces 
should be bevelled and ironed, and either rings placed at the 
ends or one inch holes bored through the sills and a chain and 

clevis used for hauling. These 
sills are placed 4 feet apart 
and on them a 6 by 5 feet 10 
inch floor is nailed. The bev- 
elled ends of the sills should 
project 10 inches beyond the 
floor. The floor boards should 
be cut 6 feet long of X inch 
matched lumber planed on one 
side. At each of the two sides 
of the floor a 2 by 4 inch scant- 
ling should be nailed. These 
two scantlings require to have 
their outer edges beveled; they 
must be well secured to the 
floor. 
The slanting sides should be covered with (1) dressed X 
Inch lumber with % by 2 inch battens over the joints; or (2) 
matched siding; or (3) half-cut siding or weather boarding. 
We prefer the third covering on account of its lightness, dur- 
ability and low cost. The dressed and the matched siding 
should belaid vertically; the half-cut siding and weather 
boarding horizontally. 

As the length (height) of the slanting sides is 
when the dressed or matched siding is used the 
should be 8 feet long. The 
half-cut siding and weather 
boarding is 6 feet long. Two 
boards are fastened in position 
at each end of the house, and 
the triangular piece at the peak 
set in. The sides can then be 
boarded. The upper ends of 
the boards (or edge of board 
when the weather boarding is 
used) on one side of the house 
are bevelled: the ends of the 
boards on the other side are 
nailed to the face of the bevel- 
led ends. 

One inch inside each end 
of the house, four pieces Ji 
inch thick and 3 inches wide 
are nailed the full length of the 
slantingsides. Theend boards 
of the house are nailed up and 
down to these pieces. 

There is a hinged window, 
feet wide, opening outwards, in the front end of the house; 
the bottom of the window is 10 inches from the floor. In 
the rear or north end of the house there is a door 2 feet wide 
and 4 feet 6 inches high. Above and below the window and 
on a level with tlie top of door are IX by 3 inch cross pieces. 
Two 6 inch holes should be sawed in the front and rear ends 
of the house near the peak for ventilation. In the front of 
the house there should also be a small chick door. 

STATIONARY COLONY HOUSES 

While portable colony houses are preferable to stationary 
houses because they can be hauled to favorable positions 
throughout the different seasons, the latter houses placed in 
good locations are satisfactory for rearing in each house one 




108- 



-THE DETAIL OF ONE 
LOWER CORNER 



feet 6 inches long and 



brood of 50 to 75 chickens to the market age. If the sta- 
tionary house is in a moderate size plot (1000 square feet) it 
is not possible to rear on that plot two or more broods of 50 
to 75 chicks during the year— the chicks of the younger 
broods will be affected by the tainted ground and they will 
be stunted in growth. 

One Type of Colony House 

111. 109 shows an excellent colony house that can be built 
of any suitable dimensions. A large size dry goods box 
covered with rooflng paper and with a window and door in 
the front similarly arranged makes an ideal shelter for a 
small flock of chicks. 

The floor of the house is 12 inches from the ground. In 
exposed locations it is advisable to board up the back and 







Iftim/iffcw'i"*"'"' '''''' 

109-AN EXCELLENT COLONY HOUSE 

two ends of the space below the house in order to provide a 
warm day shelter. 

The front window should be hinged outside at the top 
and there should be a X '"ch mesh wire netting frame in- 
side. The frame should be removable. Chickens should be 
raised in a house or coop that is well ventilated and as cool 
as possible at night. To secure these conditions the window 
and door should be open on the warmer summer nights — 
the window almost constantly throughout the summer. 

An Eastern Colony House 

The colony houses in use at Fishers Island Farm are 5 
by 7 feet, floor measurment, 5 feet high in front and 3 feet 
high in the rear. There is an ordinary door in front and a 
window with a double glass sash, one sliding each way, also 




1 lO-AN EASTERN COLONY HOUSE 

a stout wire screen back of this for summer use. The exit, 
is in front, as shown in the III. 110, and is closed securely a 



EXTERIOR FIXTURES 



83 



night by use of a sliding door. Fifty chicks are placed in 
each house and given from a quarter to half an acre of 
range. Each house is enclosed by a 6-foot wire fence. This 
fence is built of ordinary 2-inch mesh wire netting simply 
strung between posts. There are no foot boards nor are 
any top stringers required. 

Southern Colony Houses 

Colony houses for the south do not require to be as 
tightly built as those previously described. Most Southern 

fanciers prefer a house 
without a wooden 
floor, simply a wood- 
iMi "shell" a foot or 
m ore fro ni t h e 
ground. 

Mr. Morris states 
that the most approv- 
ed plan for a southern 
colony — and also a 
regular poultry house 
is what fs called in 
California a "mush- 
room house" This 
house is usually built 
of redwood stakes, or 
light, round, thin 
pieces of lumber, and 
is raised 10 to 12 
inches above ground 
by blocking up the four corners. The size varies according to 
the flock, but small houses are preferred and the usual di- 
mensions are 4 by b feet, up to 6 by 10 feet. The roof is cov- 
ered with Ruberoid ar paper, or similar material, and the 




III 



INTERIOR OF -MUSHROOM" HOUSE 
SHOWING ROOSTS AND 
OPEN SPACE NEAR THE GROUND 




1 12-A POPULAR STYLE OF SOUTHERN COLONY HOUSE 

house is made air tight from I foot above the ground. This 
1 foot of open space around the bottom carries off the ob- 
noxious odors, while the tight roof conserves the heat gener- 
ated by the fowls' bodies and keeps them warm through the 
cold nights. The radiation of heat is so great in this clear 
atmosiihere in the fall or winter months, that while it may be 
quite warm, or even hot at noon, thin particles of ice may 
form on shallow water at night. During the day the door 
and windows are both opened and the shell is "aired". The 
cleaning away of the droppings is so convenient that they 




II3-ROW OF "MUSHROOM" HOUSES 
COVERED WITH ROOFING PAPER 

are removed frequently and never allowed ^o accumulate. 
The nest boxes are all outside. (Ills. 111-113.)— F. C. Hare. 

A PRACTICAL COOP AT LOW COST 

J. D. Stevens 

The maxim, "a penny saved is twopence earned" is 
nowhere more applicable than on a poultry plant. There is 
no business that we know of that requires more room, more 
facilities or more expedients than to properly care for a 
large number of fowls. Unless one has money to throw to 
the birds (his birds), he must make use of all the labor, 
time and money-saving appliances at his command. 

Anticipating, this spring, the need of several brood coops 
for our turkeys, we figured first on the cost of the lumber 
necessary to build them. A moment's computation showed 
that it would cost $2.60 for sufficient lumber to build a coop. 
We then interviewed an enterprising young fellow in the city 
who bought and sold all kinds of boxes, and secured from 
him four large dry-goods boxes of % inch matched boards, 
at a cost of 60 cents each. These boxes are 4 feet long, 3 
feet 6 inches deep and 2 feet 6 inches wide. By turning 
them on the side, taking one of the cover boards and rip- 
ping it diagonally from corner to corner and nailing one of 
the pieces across each end we made a shed roof, which we 
covered with tarred felt. The balance of the cover boards 
were utilized in making the door and wire frame. The 
frame swings on hinges and is covered with 1-inch mesh 
wire. There is also a ventilating door above, which can be 
opened or closed as desired. Outside the mesh door and 
hinged to the top, we made a solid door to let down and be 
fastened by a button at night to keep out rain or night 
prowlers. This outer door can be raised or lowered to any 
desired height in the day time and utilized either as a sun 
shade or awning or to prevent a sudden shower driving into 
the coop. 

"A Saving of Over $8 In Cash" 

111. 114 shows how this coop can be adjusted to satisfy 
different weather conditions and how inexpensive it is. The 
only expense was the cost of the box and about two square 
yards of tarred felt. You will note that even the hinges are 
home-made, being evolved from two pieces of zinc, the bolt 
of the hinges being a short piece of smooth fence wire. 

It took considerably less than two days to build these 
four coops, which was much less time than would have been 
consumed had we purchased the lumber; we therefore saved 
in time, and over $8 in cash. The turkeys outgrew them in 
a few weeks, after which they were used and are still in use 
as colony houses for the growing pullets, temporary perches 
being placed in them for that purpose. As they are made of 
matched stuff and snug and tight, they would be satisfactory 
houses for a few fowls all winter, if desired. 



84 



POULTRY HOUSES AND FIXTURES 



A GOOD ROOST COOP 

John J. Yclton 

I have a method different from the majority of poultry 
breeders in the handling of ray birds in the fall of the year. 

I raise all my young stock in brooders and in small 
coops, until they are large enough to put into small colony 
coops, about thirty to forty birds in a coop. This coop is 
made of 1 inch by 2 inch spruce or hemlock 6 feet 6 inches 
long by 3 feet 4 inches wide and 3 feet 4 inches high. It is 
made into a regular frame and covered with rubber canvas 
cloth the same as 
carriage makers use 
on the roofs of car- 
riages. I find I can 
get this cloth cheap, 
and a coop of this 
size costs me less than 
$2 by doing the work 
myself. The bottom 
of the coop is covered 
with wire netting, 1 
inch mesh, 18 inches 
high, and on the in- 
side I have two perch- 
es 20 inches from the 
ground. This gives 
the birds fresh air and 
prevents them getting 
wet; at the same it 
stops all drafts. 

I never have a 
case of roup among 
my birds when I use 
this style of coop. I 
have the coops loca- 
ted in different parts 
of my orchard, and in 
November I gradually 
carry them day by 
day nearer the house 
where I intend to 
winter the cockerels 
and pullets. I find 
no trouble with the 
chickens when the 
coops are moved, as 
each flock of chickens 
will always go into 
their same coop at 
night. (111. 115.) 




2— Lower doors open. 
4— Outer door raised; 



114 
1 



ventilator open. 



THE DRY GOODS BOX COOP 

An Inexpensive Pradlical Coop for Hens and 

Chicks Which Can also be used 

for a Rooming Coop 

Miles Grecian 

THE main points to be considered in making a brood- 
coop are convenience, simplicity and economy. 
When I say economy is one of the points to be con- 
sidered I do not mean the cheapest coop that can be 
made; my idea of economy is to build substantially. I make 
my coops out of heavy dry goods boxes which cost from 



fifteen to twenty-five cents each, according to the disposition 
of the merchant who sells them. 

Illustration 117 shows one of these coops, and is intend- 
ed to show how all the parts are put together. It will be 
seen that one end of the box which has the cleats on is sawed 
off, and the other cleated end is the bottom. I remember 
when a boy of making a coop out of a dry goods box, but 
left the top square, with the cleats on. Of course when it 
rained the top caught water, which ran down into the coop. 
The next box I turned it down on its side, making the top 
side slanting. This worked some better, but the water still 

got inside by the 
rain beating against 
the end of the coop, 
and running behind 
the cleats; the bot- 
tom came out even 
with cleat and caught 
the water. I kept 
on experimenting 
until I feel that I 
have a coop as perfect 
as can be made for 
ordinary use. The 
points in this coop 
which I wish to call 
especial attention to 
are — have the boards 
forming the floor run 
toward the front in- 
stead of crosswise, 
as it makes it easier 
to clean; see that the 
floor is well nailed 
to cleats, so that the 
boards will not warp, 
and saw the end of 
box off with a slope 
of 6 inches to the foot 
and cover with shin- 
gles. Boards will 
turn water for a 
while, but shingles 
will last long enough 
to pay well for using 
them. A coop made 
this way is worth 
painting and especi- 
ally should it be 
painted underneath, 
as that is the paifc 
which is apt to decay first, being near the ground. 

The second illustration shows the front. A frame is 
made of 1 inch square strips to fit the front of coop, and cov- 
ered with screen cloth except an opening 7 by 11 inches, 
which is provided with two slides, one 2% inches wide, and 
the other 4% inches wide, leaving room for play. On damp, 
chilly days the small side is taken out to allow the chicks to 
run out or in, and on fine days both slats are lifted to allow 
the hen freedom. These slats are put in place each night, 
making a rodent proof coop. The front is held in place by 
one screen door hook on each side. Each coop is also pro- 
vided with a storm front, made of boards, and large enough 
to lean in front of coop and shield it from driving rains. 
The cost of these coops, exclusive of work, is about seventy- 
five cents. 



-A PRACTICAL COLONY COOP 



Outer door raised; ventilator open. 
3— AU doors closed. 
5 — Lower door closed: ventilator open. 



EXTERIOR FIXTURES 



85 



-,:#i4? 



_jS-^-^, -p 






PIANO BOX WEANING COOP 

It takes men and women of intelligence to produce good 
poultry, and these people, after they have had experience 
enough to get down to bed-rock, know better than to waste 
their money on fancy coops. The fact is, they need all this 
money in order to get well started with the right kind of 
standard -bred fowls. 

Accompanying these remarks is shown (III. 116) the 
weaning coop used by Mr. Davis. He bought, at fifty cents 

each, several piano 
boxes, knocked off 
the tops, as shown 
in 111. 116 tipped 
them over on the 
long side, fastened 
two removable roost 
poles in each, and 
his coops, with a 
capacity of twenty- 
five to forty chicks 
each, were complete. 
Under each corner 
of each box he 
placed two bricks 
to keep them off the ground out of the wet and 
allow room enough underneath for his small-sized dog 
to take care of rats or any other kind of prowlers 
that might seek to prey on his chicks. A door 
consisting of a wooden frame covered by poultry 
netting (l-inch mesh) fits snugly into the opening of each 
piano box and is buttoned securely for night service. Over 
the top of the box, to keep out the rain, is tacked red rosin 
building paper. "No, I don't paint it," said Mr. Davis; 
"it will last without painting during one season and is so 
cheap that it is not worth while to paint it. Each season I 
put on new paper." 

These piano box coops are scattered over the eighteen- 
acre place at a distance of from 200 to 300 feet apart, and 
the chicks have free range. On Mr. Davis' land there is a 




1 1 5-A CANVAS COVERED ROOST COOP 




II6-PIANO BOX WEANING COOP AS USED BY WILLIAM B. DAVIS 

roomy chaparral of elderberry bushes and shrubbery. By 
July 2oth, one hundred and fifty or more of his young stock 
had graduated from the piano boxes and were roosting at 
night in the bushes and shrubs. Said Mr. Davis, "That 
suits me exactly. They will be healthier there and will do 
better than in any coop I might be able to build. That is 
my opinion, at least, based on experience. I have never 
yet caught a chicken with a cold out of that clump of bushes, 
and they stay there until November 1st or later. It is when 
we poultrymen, in the fall, put our chicks in houses that are 
closely built and badly ventilated that they take cold. They 
gel overheated during the night and then if allowed to run 
out at sun-up in the morning while the air is chilly, and per- 
haps damp, they take cold in spite of anything we can do, 
and a cold that is not attended to may develop into roup. 




1 17-A DRY GOODS BOX COOP 



If we will use judg- 
ment in cooping 
our chickens i n 
the fall, in the 
way of preventing 
them from over- 
crowding, and will 
provide plenty of 
ventilation without 
any drafts, and 
will also make a 
practice of not 
letting them out 
on cold mornings 
until the sun is 
well up and they 
have been exercis- 
ing in the coop and 
have their blood in good circulation, we will have much less 
trouble with colds, especially in the fall. I have had practi- 
cally none the last two or three years, simply because I have 
looked after these matters." 

We have shown several styles of weaning or small colony 
coops and wish to impress on the minds of beginners with 
poultry the importance of using coops of this kind. It is a 
common practice among the inexperienced to let the chicks 
shift for themselves after the hen abandons them, or after 
they are really too large to be kept in brooders. When chicks 
are fairly well feathered out, say at ten to twelve weeks old, 
they should be divided up into lots of twenty-five to forty 
and placed in weaning coops. 

SHELTER FOR WEANED CHICKS 

The shelter for weaned chickens, 111. 118 is 12 feet long, 3 
feet 6 inches wide, 2 feet high in front and 12 inches high at 




II8-SHELTER FOR WEANED CHICKS 



•■">**S 



the back. There is required for its construction 7 boards 12 



86 



POULTRY HOUSES AND FIXTURES 



feet long by 1 foot wide; 50 running feet of 2 by 1 inch strips 
for cleats and front frames, and about 22 square feet of 1- 
inch mesh wire netting to cover frames. Bottom of shelter 
should be filled in several inches deep with dry earth, and if 
desired a couple of footwide boards can be laid down at 
back for a hovering platform. This shelter will afford pro- 
tection to 150 to 200 chicks in two flocks. Yards, as indicat- 
ed in illustration, can be added where necessary, but chicks 
can be easily trained to go to their own side without the yard. 

COOP AND RUN FOR HEN WITH CHICKS 
Mrs. S. E. Hutlbut 

I have seen many sketches of coops, runs, etc., and pre- 
sent herewith one that I have used for the past ten years with 

good success. 
Some of my friends 
have adopted this 
style of coop, and 
one man says of 
it, "It is the only 
thing with which 
I can have any 
success in the vil- 
lage, as cats are so 
thick that they get 
all my chicks if 
they are allowed 
to run." This coop 
is proof against 
hawks and crows 
as well, or anything 
that does not dig. 
I like the old-fashioned A coop for several reasons. The 
chicks can get down near the bottom of the coop under the 
sides, and if the hen scratches they are out of the way. 
They are cheap and can be readily moved, are water-proof 
and easy to keep from vermin. I cut the sides 30 inches 
long, 20 inches wide, using 10-inch wide boards with a bat- 
ten of tin or wood over the middle joint. Take three pieces 
of board, 1 by 2 inch, one for the ridge pole, and the other 
two for battens near the bottom. Nail these to the sides,- as 
shown in shaded places in front of coop. Take a piece, 1 by 
3 inch, and put across the front 5 inches from the bottom, 
as shown in the sketch. Nail a piece 2 feet 6 inches long, 
in the middle, leaving a space 9 inches wide at each 
side. Then nail the rest solid. Nail a board of matched 
stuff lengthwise on the back, or bevel the edges so the water 
will shed properly if not matched. You can leave a small 
hole at the top of back for ventilation if necessary. 1 usual- 
ly cover the ridge with a strip of tin to make it water-proof. 
When the chicks get large enough to jump up onto the cross- 
piece and get out, put a piece of l-inch wire netting across 
the upper part of the front. 

To make the runs take a 16-foot board 10 inches wide, 




1 19-A SERVICEABLE COOP 




120-SAFETY RUNWAY TO BE USED WITH COOP SHOWN IN ILL. 1 19 



cut in two for the sides, 8 feet long. Then take another 
board and cut in two pieces 3 feet 10 inches long for the 
ends, and two pieces 4 feet 2 inches long for the cover and 
top boards. Take four pieces 10 inches long, 2 by 2, for 
corner pieces. Nail the 3 feet 10 inch pieces to them, place 
them between the sides and nail them securely. Take one 
piece of the 4 feet 2 inch, place it on the end of the run, lay 
the other piece next to it and nail it securely. Take two 
straps or T hinges and hang the first board to the one nailed 
and you have the door by which to feed and water. Cover 
the balance of the top with 1-inch mesh wire netting 4 feet 
wide. Saw a hole for the opening in one end 8 inches long 
and 5 inches wide from the bottom. Move the coop up to it 
so that the opening will correspond with the end of the run. 
On cold nights or in rainy weather put a board in front of 
the coop on top of the run. This is necessary during rain 
storms, as the rain falling on the boards will spatter into the 
coop and make it damp unless protected 

In hot weather I put the coop and run in the shade, and 
move them every few days to fresh ground. These dimens- 
ions are not arbitrary, as the runs can be made longer or 
shorter, or higher, to suit the fancy of the breeder. The 
cover and board adjoining make a good shelter for the chicks 
to feed under when it rains and furnish a shade when the 
sun shines. (Ills. 119-120) 

COOPING CHICKENS 
A. F. Hunter 

A COOPS for chickens play an important part in chicken 
raising, and a brief description of them will be in- 
structive. The A coops are 3 feet 6 inches by 2 feet 
3 inches on the ground and 2 feet high at the apex 
of the roof. They are built throughout of % inch tongued 
and grooved pine and well painted. The front is all slats, as 
shown in 111. 121, with a slatted gate sliding in grooves to 
close the front. We 
originally built these 
A coops to slope 
down to the ground, 
but found it an im- 
provement to have a 
square base, 4 inches 
high, with the cor- 
ners turned at an 

angle, to prevent the chicks from crowding back under the 
eaves and smothering one or two at a time. We find it a 
most decided advantage to have these well built coops 
always at hand, and as we have coops now in use which 
were built ten years ago and are as good to-day as when 
made, the economy of well made coops will be apparent. 
When we say that the tongues and grooves of the roof pieces 
are painted before they are put together, the reader will 
realize that they are thoroughly well built. 

The roosting coop, which is chiefly intended for raising 
the pullets in, is 6 feet long, 3 feet wide, 2 feet high at the 
back and 3 feet high in front. The roof, ends 
and back are all of ><-inch tongued and grooved 
pine, the front being all laths, set 3>^ iuches 
apart, except the detachable gate that is describ- 
ed later and a 3 inch board at each corner for 
stiffening the front. Two roosts of 2 by 3 inch 
scantling, slightly rounded at the top, run the 
whole length and are a foot apart, being securely 
nailed to a frame of furring (1 by 3 stuff) 9 
inches from the ground. To this frame we nail 
the ends, back and front corner boards 
and then fit in at the top a frame of 1 inch 




1 21 -A SHELTER FROM RAIN 



EXTERIOR FIXTURES 



87 




122-A SHELTER FROM THE SUN 



square stuff to nail the roof boards to. A coop like 
this will comfortably house twenty-five to thirty chickens 
until they are nearly grown; in fact, we sometimes 
have pullets begin to lay before they are brought in from 
these roosting coops. It is quite light and can be easily mov- 
ed by one man its length or width to fresh ground, or it can 

be tipped up and the 
droppings removed, 
and it is a perfect 
summer shelter. If 
it is to be used in 
the spring or fall, 
when the nights are 
cold, an improve- 
ment would be to 
make a front of 1-inch boards, hinged at top edge, so it could 
be swung outward and upward and rest upon folding legs 
hinged at the bottom corners which would become a roof to 
shelter the birds from rains. One disadvantage of this light 
coop is, that it may be easily tipped over by a high wind, 
especially when the chickens are all out of it, as during the 
day. To prevent it from tipping over a fiat stone should be 
placed on each front corner of the roof. 

The gate in front of the coop gives access to the inside 
when the pullets are to be removed. The gate is made of 
laths nailed to two strips 1 inch square, the left hand ends 
of which are long enough to slip in behind the lath front, 
the right hand side 
being secured by one 
or two buttons. If one 
prefers, these gates 
can be hinged at one 
side or the other and 
secured by a hook or 
button, but we have 
found it a conven- 
ience to have them 
wholly detachable, 
and so make them. 

Shelter from rain and sun is of quite as much help as a 
good coop to sleep in. By experimenting in different ways 
we learned that it would pay well to have "shelter boards" 
always ready, just as are the coops, hence we make them of 
the 1-inch, tongued and grooved pine, taking five strips 3 
feet long by 6 inches wide for each shelter board. These 
strips are securely nailed to pieces of 1 inch square spruce at 
the top and bottom, and then the weather side is well paint- 
ed. We make a light frame of the 1-inch square spruce 




123-A PORTABLE SHELTER 




124— BROOD COOP FOR HEN AND CHICKS 

Strips and laths to fit up to the A coops when we want to put 
the shelter close to the coop, using one of the 2 feet 6 inch 
by 3 feet shelter boards as shown in 111. 121. As the chicks 
get older we move the frame out a little and put two shelter 
boards over it side by side, setting it so that it furnishes 
shade if the sun is shining, or protects from a driving rain, 
of course adapting it to the direction of the wind. 



When we move the pullets out into the field and into the 
roosting coop we set upon stakes and a strip of furring, a 
shelving roof 7 feet 6 inches long by 3 feet wide, slightly 
sloping to the south, about 18 inches high in the front and a 
foot high at the back. By these devices we more than 
double the available shelter from rain and sun and corres- 
pondingly increase the comfort of the growing chicks. Ob- 
viously, if they have to be crowded into their narrow sleep- 
ing quarters on a rainy day or to get away from the hot sun, 
they are not making good growth. 



BROOD COOPS— DOOR FASTENER 

W'e illustrate the favorite brood coop for a hen with 
chicks, in use by Mr. J. H. Thompson, (111. 124). This coop 
provides shelter in which to exercise and allows the chicks free 




125-CONVENlENT WEANING COOP 



range. A slide door of woven wire mesh should be provided 
for safely locking the hen and chicks in the closed half of the 
coop during the night. 111. 125 shows a weaning coop in use 
by Mr. Thompson. This coop is used for the chicks after 
they are taken from the hens, thirty to forty being placed in 
a coop 3 by 6 feet in size, floor measurements. The roost 
poles extend through the ends of the coop and serve 
as handles to move the coop from place to place. 
These poles are removable, as shown in the illustration, for 
oiling, cleaning, etc. A wire frame that fits snugly into the 
front of the coop is buttoned securely in place during the 
night, after the chicks have gone to roost. In some respects 
this coop is an improvement on any we have seen. 

A Wedge Door Fastener 

A Yankee device in use on this farm is a simple fastener, 
111. 126, for holding the doors closed that lead into the pens of 
the breeding house. A wedge- 
shaped piece of wood was sawed 
and one flat edge of it covered with 
leather from an old bootleg, the 
leather lapping part way around 
the wedge. This wedge was then 
nailed to the door post breast high, 
with the thin part of the edge point- 
ing inward toward the pen. The 
door swings inward and lacks about 
y^ an inch of closing tight against 
the door jam or post. As the at- 
tendant passes into the pen he 
swings the door to behind him. It 

strikes the wedge about half way up toward the thick part, 
binds itself against the leather and is held securely in place 
until opened with a slight jerk as the attendant passes out. 
This is one of the neatest and most practical home-mad 
fasteners we have seen. 




1 26 -DOOR FASTENER 



S8 



POULTRY HOUSES AND FIXTURES 



BROOD COOP FOR HENS AND CHICKS 

Harmon Bradshaw 

The brood coop shown in 111. 127, has some points of ex- 
cellence not found in most of the coops in use. It can be 
made any size, but 2 feet wide and 3 feet long is about 
right. Lumber from X i"ch to 1 inch in thickness should 
be used, and the coop when completed should be painted 




I27-BROOD COOP FOR HEN AND CHICKS 

white to protect the lumber from the weather. White coops 
make a pretty contrast with the green sward. 

The roof of this coop is made to extend over the ends 
and sides 3 inches, and the bottom is made separate from 
the rest of the coop and of a size so that the coop will sit 
down over it clear around. The coop can then be used with 
or without the bottom, as desired. During dry weather and 
warm weather there is no need to use the bottom unless 
there is danger of rats, weasels or the like burrowing under 
to get at the chicks. Pains should be taken to guard against 
these enemies. Where there is danger of rain the bottom 
should be used; in fact, a brood coop should be carefully 
located on high ground or on a ridge where there is no dan- 
ger of the chicks being drowned in a sudden rain storm. 

The brood coop is rat proof when shut up for the night. 
As shown, the inner slat door is let down so that the hen as 




128-FRONT OF BROOD COOP SHOWING MANNER OF 
HOUSING DOOR IN POSITION 

well as the chicks can pass in. When it is desired to con- 
fine the hen and allow the chicks egress, this slat door is 
closed. When night comes on and the hen and chicks are 
in the coop the raised solid wooden door is let down and 
fastened securely. Above this wooden door is a pane of 
glass which furnishes light to the interior of the coop when 



it is entirely closed up, and under the extended roof in the 
rear end of the coop is a strip of wire cloth or window 
screening, which furnishes ample ventilation, but is rat 
proof. Bv the use of this coop the hen and chicks can be 
confined during stormy weather and will still have light and 
ventilation. 

We do not see wherein this coop could be improved. 
If taken proper care of, a coop of this kind will last several 
years. It is small and light in weight so that it can be put 
away in the barn, shed, or a dry cellar when not in use. 
Cared for in this way it will last a long time. Chicks kept 
in such a coop will be safe at night and can be controlled 
as desired during the daytime. 

COOP FOR HENS AND CHICKS 

Harvey C. Wood 

I bought a dry goods box about 30 inches square, also a 
short board 6 inches wide and several pieces of weather- 
boarding. I removed the lower boards of one side and 
cleated them together, then fastened them with a hinge to 
to the box, making a door, as shown in III. 129. I arrange 




129- REAR OF COOP 

this so that I can fasten it up in the day time and lower it at 
night. In rainy weather I lower it enough so that the rain 
will run away from the house and at such times the hen and 
chickens can be fed inside. 

Having finished the door, I took a board the length of 
the house and then ripped it from one corner to the opposite 
lower corner and place these pieces, the large end to the 
front, one on each side of the top of the house. Across this 
I laid the weather boarding, being careful to lap It, so that 
the rain could not penetrate. To insure ventilation at night, 
I bored several holes near the top of the rear end and cover- 
ed the holes with screen. 

I made a lath coop 4 feet square and 2 feet high. One 
side I left open and fitted it close against the coop, then 
the chicks can be confined in the coop and the old hen can 
be let out in it for a little exercise and fresh air. 

PLAN FOR BROOD COOP WITH HOOD 

W. S. Templeton 

The roof and sides of the hooded brood coop project 6 
inches beyond the front. This hood protects the chicks from 
cold winds and blowing rains and also the hot mid-day sun. 
The coop should face the southeast, and the doors should be 



EXTERIOR FIXTURES 



89 



on the side shown hi the cut, so as to keep the northeasterly 
winds out as well as to let in the early morning sun through 
1-inch raesh wire netting. 

The coop is 2 feet 6 inches wide (inside measure), the 
(■ame in depth, 14 inches higli at the rear and 2 feet higli in 




1 30-THE FRONT OF THE HOODED BROOD COOP 

front. The roof is 3 feet .square, made by nailing together 
three boards 3 feet long and 1 foot wide. The hen door may 
be secured with either one or two hinges, and will confine the 
hen while the chicks run through the lower door, which is 3 
or 3X inches high and about 12 inches long. I recommend 
dre,=sed lumber, for mites do not have as good a chance to 
hide in the cracks. This coop soon pays for itself in the 
number of chicks saved. 

A SAFE BROOD COOP 

Herewith is presented an illustration (131) of a chicken 



coop which we have taken so much comfort in during two 
seasons. We used boxes about 18 by 18 inches by 3 feet, 
building the runs of such scraps as are to be found around 
a place and that can be manipulated by a woman with a 
saw and hatchet. The front of the box is boarded up about 
two-thirds of the way across, the other third being left 
open for the hen and her chicks to pass in and out. The 
closed end of the box furnishes a snug, warm corner during 
the night and bad weather. Over the yard is tacked, first, 
wire netting, 1-inch raesh, so that rats, cats and other 
prowlers cannot get in. A strip of common table oilcloth is 
nailed over the top of'the box and hangs down behind the 
box far enough to prevent the rain from leaking in. The 
oilcloth is held in place by laths being nailed along the 
edges. Another strip of oilcloth, large enough to cover the 
yard, is rolled upon a stick, one end of it being fastened to 
the top of the coop on the front end of the box. During 




131-A SAFE AND HANDV BROOD COOP 

stormy weather this can be unrolled downward so that the 
oilcloth covers the wire netting and thus keeps the ground in 
the yards dry After the storm is over this oilcloth is rolled 
up, as rolling it up prevents it from sticking or cracking or 
being otherwise ruined if left lying around loose. In the end 
of the box a slide door is placed. 



CARL H. KRIPPENE'S COLONY HOUSE 




FRONT OPEN FRONT CLOSED 

132— CARL H. KRIPPENE'S FIFTY-CENT COLONY HOUSE 



These houses vary in size, being 
made from large, heavy dry goods 
boxes. The top half of the front is 
first covered with wire screen to 
keep out rats, etc., at night and then 
a door is fitted and hinged as shown 
in illustration. The large, lower 
door .swings open instead of up as 
shown in the picture and makes a 
handy contrivance for catching or 
driving the chicks into the coop. The 
whole is covered with heavy tar 
paper and the entire cost is as fol- 
lows: 

Dry-goods box 15 

Tar paper 15 

Screen 05 

Iloosts and fixtures 10 

Total 50 

These houses hold twelve birds un- 
til matured enough to be placed in 
winter quarters. 

One of the illustrations shows a 
coop with front open as it is all day, 
the other shows the front closed as 
it is on stormy nights. On clear 
nights the top door is left open. 



#fe 



90 



POULTRY HOUSES AND FIXTURES 



UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT WHITEWASH 

For years the United States government has been 
using on its forts and lighthouses, whitewash prepared 
according to the following formula. It is claimed that, 
made in this way, the wash will stick better and retain 
its brilliancy longer than any other, and that it is not 
easily affected by rain or weather. Of course, it is neces- 
sary to strain the material carefully before applying 
through a pump, else more or less trouble will result 
from the clogging of the nozzle, but with ordinary care 
at the start, no inconvenience will be experienced. 

Take half a bushel of unslacked lime, slack vrith 
warm water and cover it during the process to keep in 
. the steam. Strain the liquid through a fine sieve or 
strainer; add a peck of salt previously well dissolved in 
warm water, three pounds of ground rice boiled to a 
thin paste and stirred in boiling hot, half pound of pow- 
dered Spanish whiting and a pound of glue which has 
been previously dissolved over a slow fire. Add five gal- 
lons of hot water to the mixture, stir well and let it 
stand for a- few days, covered well. Strain carefully and 
apply with a spray pump. It should be put on hot. There 
is nothing that can compare with it for outside or in 
side work, and it retains its brilliancy for many years. 
Coloring matter may be put in to make the wash any 
shade desired. 

PUTTING UP POULTRY NETTING 

Don Harrison - 

Among the methods employed for putting up poultry 
netting, I have found no way which is so expeditious and in 
every way satisfactory, as the following. 

Nail the boards on whicli you intend to fasten the bot- 
tom of the netting in such a manner as to form a straight 
line, as netting cannot be nicely put up over a line, one part 
of which is higher than the rest, without cutting and lapping 
the netting. Have the posts extend at least 4 feet 4 inches 
above the top of the boards. 

Now drive six-penny nails about X inch into the posts, 
4 feet from the board. Next loosen the roll of netting, run 
a slender stick lengthwise through the center. I use a 
measuring stick, 8 feet long. Have two 
persons take hold of tlie ends of the pole 
and walk as near the posts as possible, 
thereby causing the netting to unroll. 
Nowyour nettiiiglies flat on the ground. 
Get on the opposite side of the fence 
witli staple and haniiuer, and sfa|)le the 
selvage strand to the top or edge of the 
board, pulling the wire just enough to 
take out the kinks. Do not try to 
stretch it. Now one edge of the netting 
is fastened to the base board and the 
other edge lies about 4 feet from you 
on the ground. Pick up the free edge 
and hook it over the nails prexiously 
driven in tlie posts. Fasten the ends 
of the netting to their respective posts, pulling fairly 
taut and fastening securely. Make a notch on the 
end of your pole deep enough to hold the selvage. 
With this pole push the netting up on the post, 
having pulled the nail when you attached the pole un- 
til the netting is firm and straight. Staple the selvage wire 
to the post, repeating the operation on each post. After 
you have done this, staple to the post as much as you think 
necessary. I use two staples between selvages, making four 



to each post, and as for the bottom I staple every 2 feet. 
With a boy to help unroll the netting, you can put 
up a roll in twenty minutes. Our yards are on level 
ground and we have posts sawed 3 by 3, and 8 feet 4 
inches long. We drive them 2 feet into the ground and 
put two, 12-inch boards at the bottom to prevent the 
males from fighting. 

TEST YOUR FENCING 
Ernest C. Bischoff 

For some time past there have been complaints as to 
the lasting- qualities of wire fencing. The trouble seems- 
to be that the galvanizing did not wear as well as on wire 
fence bought in previous years. For the benefit of the 
readers who buy wire fencing and are compelled to ac- 
cept the word of the maker as to the quality, I give a test 
taken from the Western Union Telegraph Co. specifica- 
tions; 

"The wire will be plunged Into the saturated solution of sul- 
phate of copper, permitted to remain one minute, and then 
wiped clean. This process will be performed four times. If the 
wire appears black after the fourth immersion it shows that 
the zinc has not been all removed and that the galvanizing te 
well done; but if it has a copper color the iron is exposed, 
showing that the zinc is too thin." 

The saturated solution of sulphate of coi3per( com- 
monly called blue stone) is made by putting as much 
blue stone in water as will be dissolved. There is no 
harm if some blue stone remains undissolved. 

This test can be made very easily at the time of purchas- 
ing the wire fence — by cutting off a piece of wire and dip- 
ping it into a small bottle filled with the solution. 

It might be well to try some fencing that you have on 
hand now, and note the difference between that which you 
have had a long time and fencing recently purchased. 

A BOX FOR CARRYING FOWLS 

Another useful, in fact almost indispensible article 
around a poultry yard, is a carrying box or crate. It is nec- 
essary, especially where one is somewhat cramped for room, 
to be continually changing young stock from one yard or 
house to another; separating pullets from cockerels or doub- 
ling up yards, in order to make room for others. Without a 




140-A SIMPLE CARRYING CRATE 

carrying crate you are obliged to carry the fowls by the legs, 
five or six fowls at a time, which not only tends to make 
them wild, but you are liable to injure a fine bird by reason 
of its trying to escape while you have both hands full. With 
this crate, which has a small door or loose lath in the top, 
you can catch a dozen or more; put them in it and transfer 
them wherever you wish, quietly and rapidly and without 
injury to the birds and with much less labor than carrying, 
them in the usual way. 



anterior Jfixturesi 

How to Build Economical Labor-Saving Rooming Quarters, NeAs. Automatic Feeders, Water Fountains, 

Grit and Shell Hoppers 




141 -FIXTURF-S SUSPENDED 



Jas. E. 

For the most part interior fixtures should be portable to 
facilitate the fighting of mites. Generally they should not be 
allowed to touch the sides of the house. If they do, the 
walls should be kept tight and vermin proof. Roosts should 

be on the same 
level to prevent 
fowls fighting for 
the highest place. 
They should be 
placed in the 
warmest spots 
out of the reach 
of draughts, and 
as high as possi- 
ble without in- 
jury to the fowls 
i n descending. 
They should be 
close so that 
fowls can snuggle 
together and 
keep each other 
warm, and 
enough space 
should be provi- 
ded so that they 
can separate dur- 
ing warm weather. Allow 6 to 12 inches for each fowl. The 
form of perch most to be desired seems to be a piece about 
2 by 3 inches with the narrow edge rounded. Under the 
perches should be a platform to catch the droppings far 
enough below to permit cleaning without removing perches. 

Hens Prefer Darkened NeSs 

They like to hide their nests, therefore tnese should be 
partly dark. They are less aptto eat eggs in dark nests. A 
good place for the nests is under the droppings board. They 
should be so placed that the eggs can be gathered without 
stooping. Hens like to fly up to lay. Nest boxes should 
generally be about 1 foot square and 8 to 10 inches deep so 
that the nest material will prevent the eggs from breaking, 
and the hens cannot roll eggs from one nest to another. The 
partitions between nests should permit hens to go from one 
nest to another, otherwise they will fight 
and break eggs. Fine hay is the best nest 
material; sawdust stains eggs; excelsior 
wads up and sticks to hens' toes; straw is 
too coarse. Provide nest eggs. The hens 
then feel a sense of security. That is why 
hens like to lay in the same nest. Ills. 142 
and 143 are suggestions for roosting and 
nesting arrangements which we have been 
using with great satisfaction. They can be 
modified to suit conditions. 

Water basins should be large enough 
so that when filled the water will last for 24 
hours. Then we will know that the hens 
will not suffer from lack of water. They 
should be easily cleaned and should be 



Rice 

made of such material that they will not break if dropped or 
frozen. The best water dish is a galvanized iron refrigerator 
pan with corrugated bottom and with top larger than bottom. 
It should be placed a little above the floor with a cover to 
prevent its becoming dirty. 

A self-feed grit box should be placed where the hens can 
have constant access to it and cannot roost upon it. Every 
pen should be provi- 
ded with a hanging 
coop with slat sides 
and bottom in which 
to place broody hens 
or extra males. 

The design o f 
nests is well calcu- 
lated to prevent 
hens from getting 
into t h e annoying 
habit of egg eating. 
Dark, shallow nests 
are the best and 
most practical pre- 
ventative known , 
and the plan of 
building such nests 
as shown in the 
illustration is a good 
one. 

If intended for 
■ Leghorns or medi- 
um-sized hens, nests 
12 by 12 inches at 
the base will do; if 
for Brahmas, Coch- 
ins, etc., do not fail to have the nests 15 by 11") inches in size. 
Be governed also in the height of the nests by the size of the 
fowls. Seven to 8 inches will do for Leghorns, while for the 
large breeds they will need to be 10 inches high. Fill in 
enough nest material so that the hens can only creep on and 
off the nest, so that they may lay comfortably, and yet not 
have sufticient room to allow them to stand up in the nests 
and get at the eggs to eat them. 

The rear bottom board of this row of nests should be 




142-ROOSTlNG QUARTERS AND 
NEST BOXES 




•■-To-8- 



6^ 

143-A SUCCESSFUL ARRANGEMENT OF ROOSTS AND NESTS 



92 



POULTRY HOUSES AND FIXTURES 



hinged to the wall of the poultry house, so as to open 
downward, thus rendering- it easy to clean them out. The 
upright which holds the bottom board in position is also 
on a hinge, attached to the bottom board. To let down 
the bottom, kick the upright from binder it. This bottom 
board extends 10 or 12 inches all around the box, furnish- 
ing a place for the fowls to alight on when going to the 
nests or to roost. The roost pole (or poles, two can be 
used) is to be seen above the top of the nests. This top 
serves as the droppings board and should also be hung on 
hinges against the wall. It can then be raised to gather 
eggs from the nests. 

Dui'ing the time of year when the poultry house is 
closed up it is a good plan to clean away the droppings 
every day. To do this is a very simple matter where 
such nests and roosts as this one are used. Save the drop- 
pings for \ise as a fertilizer and have some slacked lime 
or dry earth (lime preferred) to sift on the droppings 
board after each cleaning. 

A WELL-DESIGNED HALLWAY 

In long poultry houses, time and labor can be saved 
by planning the passageway so that all possible work 
can be performed in it. 111. 144 shows a type of hallway 




1 44- A WELL-DESIGNED HALLWAY 

from which the fowls can be fed, watered, and their egg>i 
gathered. 

The slats in front of the feed trough, are % by 1% 
inches and 20 inches long; they are spaced 2y^ inches 
apart. 

The feed troughs are made of two % inch boards 4 
and 5 inches wide, and are 6 feet long. They extend the 
length of the building. 

A water dish can be seen on a shelf above the feed- 
ing slats. When the food troughs are removed the water 
dishes are placed on the floor. 

On the opposite side of the passageway there is a 
shelf 12 inches wide, level with the' floor of the nests, 
also a board 10 inches wide nailed upright at the out- 
side of the shelf. The latter board is simply to darken 
the interior of the nest and to prevent egg-eating. The 
shelf extends the width of the pen; the upright board is 
3C inches shorter than the shelf (leaving a space of 15 
inches at each side.) The fowls enter the nests at either 
side of the pen by jumping on the shelf. 




145-COOP FOR BROODY HENS 



(I3y placing the droppings board just above the feed- 
ing rack and by hinging the board shown between the 
rack and the floor of the nests, the droppings could also 
be removed from the passageway. Ed.) 

BREAKING UP BROODY HENS 

Clark H. Minor 

There are manj' contrivances for breaking up broody 
hens, but a trial with the coop illustrated (145) will prove 
i^ to be successful. The coop can be fastened from the 
ceiling of the poultry house 
or can be erected as shown in 
the illustration. 

Now that incubators are so 
cheap and more convenient, the 
old hen is used less and less 
every j'ear. As all breeds 
have not learned ^ ,^ ,„ 

that they are not 
wanted to hatch 
their eggs tliere 
are more broody 
hens to be reliev- 
ed of their desire 
to sit. Those 
who breed the 
non-sitting class 
of fowls have no 
use for this coop, 
but to all ^vho 
breed the Asiatics 
or other heavy birds it will be found very useful. 

The coop should be made square and fastened up by 
a chain or rope from the center of the top; then by this 
plan the hen will have to stand up most all the time, and 
as every step she takes causes the cage to move, she soon 
as the larger size does not work as well unless you have 
it full. It is better to have several small coops than one 
that is too large, 
forgets about her desire to sit. 

The coop may be of any size desired. A coop 16 or 18 
inches square will easily accommodate three or four me- 
dium sized hens. Do not make one over 30 inches square, 

CRATE FOR SHIPPING DAY-OLD CHICKS 

This shipping 
crate consists of 
three wooden boxes 
each four inches 
deep, eighteen 
inches square Inside 
mea.surements and 
divided into four 
compartments. Each 
box is covered with 
burlap securely 
tacked down after 
the chicks are load- 
ed in while the floor 
is covered with a 
layer of alfalfa or 
bran. The tiers, or 
boxes, were ar- 
ranged three inches 
above one another 
^^^th four supporting sticks one tacked in each corner of 
the lower box. A handle is securely nailed along the sides 
and over the top. The crate will hold about 250 chicks or 
twenty-one in a compartment. 




1 45.A-CRATE FOR SHIPPING DAY-OLD CHICKS 



^ ^ucceSMul Automatic Jfeeber 

Will Feed Grains of Different Degrees of Fineness and Dryness, also Beef Scraps and Dry Mixtures 
— An Economical, Pradical Device which Feeds Uniformaly 

Dr. H. P. Nottage 



A poultryman who has 8000 fowls asked me recently for a 
design of a satisfactory food box. A man who has a large fiock 
of fowls certainly cannot afford time to be constantly remodeling 
food boxes in the search for a box that will feed uniformly all 
varieties of grain, beef scraps and cut clover. 

It is with satisfaction that I offer a model feeder which has 
been developed out of many tribulations with boxes that would 
not feed or that would spill all the grain on the ground. It 
represents the most successful device for feeding grains of differ- 
ent conditions of fineness and dryness and which will also feed 
scraps and dry mixtures. 

In the sectional view note slanting (45 degrees) top which 
prevents the fowls from roosting on the feeder. It is hinged at 
the lower edge. The bottom also slants parallel with the cover. 
The trough in front is 5 inches wide andlj inches deep. A nar- 
.row wooden strip runs the entire length and projects over into the 
trough about j of an inch. This prevents the grain from being 
thrown out by the hens. The grain banks up under the strip. 

The front elevation shows that the openings of the compart- 
ments extend to the bottom of the box. The opening for feeding 
oats is 4 inches square and for the scraps 8 by 10 inches. These 
openings are covered with cellar window netting g-inch mesh. 
The slit in the corn compartment is about J inch in height and 
clear across. The upper edge is sawed parallel with the bottom of 
the feeder. This makes the opening higher inside than out. It 
would be well to have a strip of wood or tin sliding vertically so 
as to reduce the height of this opening when feeding wheat or oth- 
er small smooth grain. If it is desired to feed dry mixtures anoth- 
er compartment can be added, built exactly like the one for 
scraps. 

If cracked corn or wheat feed loo freely in the regular com- 




M7-A SUCCESSFUL AUTOMATIC FEEDER 




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146-SECTION AND FRONT ELEVATION OF A SUCCESSFUL AUTOMATIC FEEDER 
Outside dlmensioDS: Height 36 inches; front 28 inches; depth 8 inches; width 38 inches- 
each compartment 12 inches. 



partment try them in the oat compartment. There they will 

feed slowly, cracked corn especially; in fact it will feed so slowly 

that the hens will 

have to peck at it all 

day to get a full crop. 

This is an advantage 

in some cases. Not 

so with little chicks 

on free range, for 

their habit is to fill 

up moderately in the 

morning, then start 

out and be gone all 

day. They return in 

crowds about four 

o'clock to fill up as 

quickly as they can 

before dark. 

Again, some beef 
scraps are fine and 
dry. The liens will 
try to pick out the 
biggest pieces, and 
shove the finest stuff 
under the long strip 

of wood until it begins to come over tlie top. If this difficulty 
arises, nail a strip of 1 inch netting across the top of this part of 
the trough so as to cover it completely. Then the hens will 
have to reach down through the netting and cannot throw 
the scraps. 

A PRACTICAL FEEDING 
TROUGH 

One of the difficult problems for the 
poultryman is to devise some means for 
feeding little chicks so that they can con- 
sume all of thefood without soiling it. 

A simple and efficient feeding t-rough 
may be made by tacking a piece of tin 
about 3J inches wide along the edge of a 
J -inch board so that the tin projects 
abont IJ inches on either side of the 
board, bending the tin so as to form a 
shallow trough, and fastening the boards 
to blocks which raise it from 1 to 2 
inches from the door. 

The trough may be from 1 to 3 feet 
long. It is within easy reach of the chicks 
and so narrow that they cannot stand 
upon the edges. Food placed in such 
feeding troughs can be kept clean until 
wholly consumed. 

Feeding Troughs for Turkeys 

Early in the fall I had made two 
self-feeders, similar to 111. 147, 18 feet long, 
1 foot wide and about 1 foot high, each 



94 



POULTRY HOUSES AND FIXTURES 




FEEDING TROUGH 



holding about 6 bushels of grain. The feeders were opened in the 
evening at feeding time and closed in the morning after the turk- 
eys had eaten all they wanted. I closed them during the day to 
keep my fowls from the grain. The feeders were useful and sat- 
isfactory and with them I fatted 165 turkeys quite economically 





149 -TROUGH FOR MASH 



148 -FEEDING TROUGH FOR TURKEYS 



A TROUGH FOR MASH 

I find that the best size trough for feeding mash to the ave- 
rage number of fowls in a pen is 6 feet long and 9J inches high. 

On this sketch "A" is the end board," B" the V-shaped 
trough. A wheel 
is built over this 
trough to revolve 
on axle "D" with 
rods "C" connect- 
ing the end block-s. 

The advantage 
1 find in this form 

of trough is that the fowls cannot get into their food on account 
of the wheels over it, and they cannot roost on top of it, as 
every time a fowl jumps on the top rod it revolves, and the 
birds will soon tire of this performance. 



CRATE FOR FEEDING CHICKS 

Do you keep chicks in the same yard with adult fowls, or al- 
low both the run of the place, as on the farm? If so, provision 
should be made to prevent the grown fowls, or the larger and 
stronger chicks, from consuming most of the food, leaving little or 
none for the weaker chicks. 

111. 150 shows a simple lath coop that, almost any person can 




150-A CRATE TO EXCLUDE GROWN FOWLS 

construct. The feed trough, a self-feeder, can be seen inside the 
coop. The chicks run in and out freely, but the hen is barred. 



In the feed trough used the chicks do not trample and soil the 
food, but eat it as it falls through. 

Where growing chicks of several sizes are running together 
it is well to have two or three of th^se feeding coops with slats 
at. different widths apart; then the chicks about of a size will 
eat together to their common advantage. 

HOME-MADE GRIT BOXES 



modeled from a gallon 




A money saver that can be easily 
fruit can and used as 
a grit or oyster shell 
dish, is shown in 111. 
151. Half the round 
part of the can is cut 
away in a sort of 
compound curve, 
leaving the style of 
dish shown in illus- 
tration. This is nail- 
ed to the wall of the 
house on the inside 
and filled with grit 
and shells. One of 
these small, inexpen- 
sive dishes is used 
in each breeding pen. 

Ills. ]5'2 and 153 
show other types of economical and easily constructed grit and 
shell boxes. 

ECONOMICAL FIXTURES 

The arrangement for holding cup for water securely against 
the slats of coop is 
made of stiff wire — ■ 
No. 16 being about 
the right size. (150.) 

The grit box is a 
common varnish can, 
which can be procur- 
ed at any drug store. 
The point of arrow 
shows a wire which 
holds the cut part of 
the can in place. ( 1 5.')) 



I5I-GR1T BOX MADE FROM GALLON 
FRUIT CAN 




152- 



ANOTHER STYLE OF GRIT OR 
SHELL BOX 



A Winter Fountain 



I determined to be 
prepared and not have the 
trouble I did last year with 
the water troughs. I can- 
not be at home during the 
day to break the ice in the 
troughs, so I have contriv- 
ed a fountain whicli 
keeps the water from 
freezing. 

I made a pan 6 inches 
high and 8 inches in diam- 
eter with a chimney 9 inches 
long running through the 
center of the pan. The 
chimney extends IJ inches 
above the pan to keep the 
water from running over 
into the lamp, and IJ inches 
below the pan, to fit on the 
lamp burner. Below this 




153-A HOPPER FOR GRIT AND 
OYSTER SHELLS 



INTERIOR FIXTURES 



95 




1 54- A DEVICE FOR 
HEATING WATER 



pan I place a lamp that fits the chimney. 
I have a No. 2 burner, which will take a 
chimney 3 inches in diameter at the bot- 
tom and I J inches at the top. The chim- 
ney running through the center of the pan 
radiates enough heat to keep the water 
from freezing. Around the lamp I shall 
put i inch wire mesh, to keep the chicks 
away from the lamp. I have placed my 
lamp in the poultry house, on the side 
wall. As shown in the III. 154, there is a 
loop rivited on the pan, so that it can be 
taken-down and cleaned. 

The height of the heater.when finish- 
ed and hanging on the wall is 12 inches. 
There should be a box 6 inches high in 
front of the fountain on which the fowls 
can stand and drink. Any tinner can 
make a heater if he sees the plan and reads 
the directions. 



A SELF-DRAINING APPLIANCE FOR WATER- 
ING DUCKLINGS 

A practical device for watering ducklings in use at Mr. 
Keith's Pekin duck plant is thus 
described; A wooden frame about 
18 inches square, to which is fast- 
ened a piece of } incli mesh galvanized 
wire cloth, is placed over a hole dug in 
the earth of each indoor run or pen in 
the brooder house. The hole is dug 
about 18 inches to 2 feet deep to insure 
gecd drainage. On this u ire screen the 
galvanized iron drinking fountains are 
placed, so that all water slopped by 
the ducklings is quickly drained away 
and the pens are kept dry. One gal- 
lon founts are used with pans deep 
enough to permit the .ducklings to im- 
merse their bills above the nostrils — an 
important matter from a health stand- 
point. Ills. 157-1S8. 




-A SIMPLE CUF' 
HOLDER 



DRINKING FOUNTAIN FOR CHICKS 

A handy drinking fountain for small chicks can be made very 
easily with but little labor. Take an empty tomato or peach can 
and with a wire nail or sharp end of a 
file make a hole through the tin can 
about i to i inch from the open end; fill 
the can with clean water, place a saucer 
upside down on the filled can and turn 
the fountain over. This will leave the 
can setting upside down in the saucer 
and the saucer will stand full of water 
up to the hole in the can. This is the 
best way to water small chicks. Thoy 
cannol get into it with their feet or fall 
down and get wet as in an open vessel. 
For larger chickens a shallow pan 
can be used instead of the saucer. In this case the hole in the 
tomato can is about 1 inch or U inches from the open end, or 
J inch below the level of the top of the shallow pan . 

HOME-MADE DRINKING FOUNTAIN 
H. A. Turney 
I submit my arrangement for a drinking fountain. Of course 




155-HOME-MADE 
GRIT BOX 



the fountain itself is not new to poultrymen, but the holder is 
that to which I desire to call attention. Tliis makes the fountain 
serviceable and valuable. 

In 111. 160, the flat bottom is a block of wood 6 by 6 by 1 inch. 




157-DEVICE FOR WATERING DUCKLINGS 

with a small staple in each end. On this block I place a common 
deep saucer and invert in it an old quart tomato or fruit can. The 
top is melted off and a notch is cut in the edge J by J inch in size. 
The handle is a piece of wire (same size as that used for a clothes 
line), bent like a bucket bale and cut just long enough to reach up 
over the bottom of the can when it is in the saucer on the block. 
The ends are to be hooked into the staples in the block. A little 
practice will enable one to cut this wire the proper length, and the 
whole affair can be made in five to eight minutes. 

Now to operate it: Drop the wire, like a bucket bale. Fill 
the can with water, 
cover with the saucer 
and quickly turn up- 
side down. Set the 
saucer on the block 
and bring the wire 
up over the can. 
File the smallest of 
notches in the top of 
the can so that the 
wire will snap into 
them, remaining till 
you want it off. The 
saucer now runs full 
of water and refills as 
soon as the chicks 
drink. Thej' have clean, fresh water 
not likely to turn the fouiit over. 




1 58-CROSS SECTION OF A DEVICE FOR 
WATERING DUCKLINGS 



for seveial hours and are 



SAFETY WATER TROUGH FOR CHICKS 

The device for a safety watering trough for little chicks ex- 
plains itself. A wooden trough is made in the form of a long, 
shallow box. White lead may be used in making it water tight, 
or if tightly nailed it will soon swell so as to hold water. Next fit 
a thin board to go in the top of this trough and float on the water 
when the trough is filled. In this board bore a half dozen or more 
1-incb holes. You now have a safety watering trough for little 
chicks par excellence. 



Snbex 



Automatic Feeder; A Successful 93 

Box for Carrying Fowls; A 90 

Brood Coop; A Safe 89 

Brood Coops , 87 

Brood Coop for Hens and Chicks 88 

Brood Coop with Hood; Plan for 88 

Brooding- and Laying House; Continuous 33 

Brooding House; Scratch Shed and 50 

Broody Hens; Breaking up 92 

Closed Front Houses 14 

Colony House; Fifty Cent 89 

Colony House; Scratching Shed 43 

Colony Houses; Stationary 82 

Construction; Details of 10 

Continuous House; A 87 

Coop; A Good Roost 84 

Coop and Run for Hen with Chicks 86 

Coop; A Safe Brood 89 

Coop at Low Cost; A Practical 83 

Coop for Hens and Chicks 88 

Coop for Hens and Chicks; Brood 88 

Cooping Chickens 86 

Coop; Piano Box Weaning 85 

Coops; Brood 87 

Coop; The Dry Goods Box 84 

Coop with Hood; Plan for Brood 88 

Crate for Feeding Chicks 94 

Crate for Shipping Day-old Chicks 93 

Curtain Front House 58 

Curtain Front House; Maine Experiment Station ....53 

Curtain Front in Maryland; The 57 

Curtain Front Poultry House 57 

Curtain Front Poultry House; A 55 

Details of Construction 10 

Door Fastener; A Wedge 87 

Exterior Fixtures 81 

Farm Poultry House; The 56 

Feeder; A Successful Automatic 93 

Feeder and Fountain; Practical 9 

Feeding Trough; A Practical 93 

Fencing; Test Your 90 

Fixtures; Exterior 81 

Fixtures; Interior 91 

Fountain; A Winter 94 

Fountain for Chicks; Drinking 95 

Fountain; Home-Made Drinking 95 

Fresh-Air; Don't Fear 61 

Fresh Air Housing for Poultry 64 

Grit Boxes; Home-Made 94 

Hallway; Well Designed 93 

House; A Business Poultry 29 

House; California Fresh-Air 73 

House; A Cheap Poultry 59 

House; A Continuous 27 

House; A Five-Pen Laying 14 

House; A Hillside Poultry 31 

House; A Modified Fresh- Air 74 

House and Scratching Shed 47 

House and Scratching Shed; Poultry 39 



House; A New "Roosting Coop" 60 

House; A Satisfactory 19 

House; A Scratching Shed 4>) 

House; A Simple Practical 31 

House; Sled Runner Colony 79 

House; A Tennessee Poultry 50 

House; A Village' Poultry 59 

House; Building a Poultry 5 

House; Closed Front 26 

House; Continuous Brooding and Laying 32 

House; Curtain Front 58 

House; Curtain Front Poultry 57 

House; Determining the Type of 3 

House; Double Poultry 16 

House for a City Lot 22 

House for a Village Flock 51 

House for Eighty Fowls 30 

House for Laying Hens 17 

House for one Flock 48 

House for Small Flock; Cheap 25 

House for Southern Breeders 41 

House for Two Flocks 46 

House; Low Cost Poultry 27 

Houses; Closed Front 14 

Houses; Scratching Shed 36 

House; Southern Open-Air 69 

Houses; Stationary Colony 82 

House; Successful Southern 28 

House for Town Dwellers; Fresh-Air 71 

House; The Farm Poultry 56 

House; The Scratching Shed Poultry 36 

House; Wood's Open-Air 67 

Houses Used in England; The Movable 77 

House with Hallway; Poultry 20 

Housing for Poultry; Fresh-Air 64 

Interior Fixtures 91 

Laying House; A Five-Pen 14 

Maine Experiment Station Curtain Front House 53 

Movable House Used in England; The 77 

Netting; Putting up Poultry 90 

Piano-Box Poultry House 13 

Portable Poultry Houses 77 

Preliminary Considerations S 

Roost Coop; A Good 84 

Roosting Room and Scratching Shed 45 

Scratching Shed Colony House 42 

Scratching Shed House; A 49 

Scratching Shed; House and 47 

Scratching Shed Houses 36 

Scratching Shed; Poultry House and 39 

Scratching Shed Poultry House; The • 36 

Scratching Shed; Roosting Room and 45 

Scratch Shed and Brooding House 50 

Shelter for Weaned Chicks 85 

Trough for Chicks; Safety Water 95 

Trough for Mash; A 94 

Watering Ducklings; A Self -Draining Appliance for... 95 

Weaning Coop; Piano Box 85 

Whitewash; United States Government 90 



Money-Making Poultry 
Information 



It does not make any difEerence how you are con- 
ducting the poultry business — on a town lot, farm or 
special plant — 

Reliable's Poultry Library 

contains valuable ideas for you. You are in danger of 
losing money if you do not know how the business of 
the most successful poultrymen is conducted, how the 
fowls are selected and fed to produce an extra supply 
of eggs during the winter, how their houses and ap- 
pliances should be built, how the chickens, ducks, 
geese and turkeys are reared on a money-making plant 
of similar size to your own. All this valuable informa- 
tion and more is contained in the thirteen reference 
books of KELIABLE'S POULTEY LIBEAEY. 

Successful Poultry Keeping SJ.OO 

Artificial Incubating and Brooding 50 

Barred, White and Buff Plymouth Rocks J.OO 

Wyandottes J.OO 

Leghorns 50 

Asiatics 50 

Eggs and Egg Farms 50 

Poultry Houses and Fixtures 50 

Chick Book 50 

Ducks and Geese 75 

Turkeys 75 

Bantam Fowl 50 

Reliable Poultry Remedies 25 

Reliable Poultry Journal Publishing Co. 

Quincy, Illinois, U. S. A. 



One copy del. to Cat. Div. 



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